The Invisible Monster
by CJzilla
Summary: An accident in Dr. Miranda Grey's laboratory creates a destructive creature made out of pure energy. The Saturdays respond to the SOS. When they arrive, the find the monster and a fifteen-year-old girl claiming to be Dr. Grey's adoptive daughter.
1. An Experiment Gone Wrong

Ohyaho everyone! CJzilla here, hammering out her next addition to the "Secret Saturdays" archive! The idea and basic plot is taken from "The Invisible Monster" episode of Hanna-Barbera's own Jonny Quest. It's kinda my fan-letter to Mr. Jay Stephens for creating something modeled after those awesome 1960s action cartoons, that I myself love so much. Enjoy.

Synopsis: An accident in the Anaractic laboratory of Secret Scientist Dr. Miranda Grey creates a destructive creature made of pure energy. An SOS is sent to the Saturdays' base, urgently pleading for immediate help. Upon arriving in Antarctica, the Saturdays find more then they thought they would, including the power of the accidental monstrous creation, that it feeds on energy and it lives only to feed, devouring all forms of energy... even the energy inside a human body. They are even more surprised to find that Dr. Grey never sent the SOS; it was her fifteen-year-old adoptive daughter that no one knew existed. How will the Saturdays fight something made of pure energy without getting consumed? And what other secrets is Dr. Grey hiding?

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me... Hate on me... Review.

AN: CJzilla owns nothing belonging to Mr. Stephens, Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera and the 1960s. I do own your reviews, my OCs and your reviews.

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**The Invisible Monster**

Chapter 1

_An Experiment Gone Wrong_

Antarctica. The Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. 5.4 million square miles of the coldest, windiest, driest mass of land in the entire world and as of any public records, housed no permanent human residents. Apart from the seasonal researchers, biologists and the odd extreme tourist, usually sticking to the relatively temperate climates of the coast, Antarctica lay aloof and barren. But, if one was to travel further inland, past the popular shorelines, multi-cultural research stations and even past the penguins, they would find a base hidden within the frozen landscape.

This was the base of a Dr. Miranda Grey, physics and particle acceleration expert. Also known as a Secret Scientist.

Standing above the permanently frozen wasteland, the secret base was supported by "legs" secured deep into the icepack below. Unwelcoming nighttime Antarctic winds blew a nippy -40 degrees while the insides of this base were a comfortable seventy three degrees. Inside and through the sterile yet highly advanced hallways, a monstrous and eerie humming resonated. The walls and floors pulsed with the droning of big machines handling enormous amounts of power. Heavy lead doors and thick plates over the windows prevented any straying radioactivity or "occupational hazards" from breeching the outside. In a sealed room, at the far end of the base, Dr. Miranda Grey was working late performing her physics and particle experiments.

The stony red-headed doctor may look as if she should be elsewhere, possibly back in civilization giving lectures on physics to over-worked college students, but as a Secret Scientist Dr. Grey could dabble in things that a college campus couldn't offer. Things that would further mankind advancement and fix dilemmas constantly plaguing the world. Dr. Grey's current project: experimenting with molecular energy and harnessing it.

Dr. Grey stood at one of her huge super-computer monitors studying the results of her latest experiment. The products of her experiments proved frustrating; all leading to sudden dead ends. The red-headed physics expert growled, resting her hands on the console under the huge monitor.

"I don't understand it. I'm _SO_ close!" Dr. Grey then ran her hand through her hair, messing her bangs and scratching her scalp under her thick bun. "I cannot find the leaky sequence of particles that cancels a successful outcome!"

The woman then heard metallic footfalls behind her. A tall robotic mass of Dr. Grey's own technology stood behind his creator. "Deadbolt", Miranda's robotic lab partner studied her calculations, the experiments' results and her frustration.

"_You say a sequence of faulty particles, Lady_?" Deadbolt beeped in his usual respectful tone. "_I am not sure that is what you should be searching for since your calculations of particle integers are innately correct. Have you reevaluated your power units_-?"

Dr. Grey gasped.

"Power units! Deadbolt! You're a genius!" The woman cheered before running to another monitor and pressing a few buttons. Deadbolt stiffly walked after his creator.

"_As you have created me, Lady_." The robot chirped, walking to the scientist's side. Dr. Grey scoffed at her robot's formalities, continuing to flick toggles.

"Yes, but you alerted me to an obvious fault in my experiment: more energy." Suddenly the machine the Secret Scientist was standing before roared to life. Dr. Grey picked up a pair of protective goggles. "Even in the smallest particle, there is an enormous amount of energy. I must break that wall of power down to make energy into mass. A jolt of super-power should shock my particles and cause a reaction."

"_Reaction, Lady? Of what kind_?" Deadbolt asked. To his surprise, Miranda Grey shrugged.

"That's why it's called an experiment. I have no idea what will happen when I supercharge engineered, altered particles of my own making." The red head's plump lips curled into a smile. By that time the machine was roaring to life.

Dr. Grey slapped her goggles over her charming eyes before setting a finger on a blue button. When pressed, two huge energy ray devices came out of the ceiling. With a flick of a switch, an experimental electrode eased out of an opening in the floor. The energy rays focused on the electrode and hummed with sustained power.

"I must try again." The physics expert stated, her eyes shining. Flipping two more switches, she gulped. "I'm so close to success, it MUST work!"

Then Dr. Grey's eyes fixed on two large toggles. Taking in a breath and blowing it out slowly, the woman put her hand on the first of the two toggles.

"Next… to…" She swallowed; a lump of nervousness nearly pinching shut her throat. "… to increase my power units. More on A Force."

She eased the first toggle forward and the energy rays crackled with the surge of power.

"And more on B Force." Dr. Grey grabbed the last toggle and pushed it forward. Unimaginable power flowed through the energy rays and into the electrode.

The room began to glow with an aggressive light as the electrode began to vibrate. Then a strobe-light effect shot through the area as the electrode turned from red to blue to yellow to orange. Dr. Grey's breath left her as her experiment began to create a new form of energy.

"Molecular energy has formed… It has body!" The woman leaned on her console, eager to see the full force of her achievement. "And it CAN be harnessed!"

Suddenly the power-buildup was too strong. The monitors and consoles in the room began malfunctioning. Sparks from disintegrating wires flew out of the machines.

"Power levels too high!" Dr. Grey yelled out as the energy controlling console began to short-circuit. "Initiating emergency shut down!"

Her hand was nearly on the big red button when the overloaded electrode collapsed and suddenly blew. An explosion of pure energy decimated the laboratory, peeling back the lead insulation like the metal was banana peels. Aggressive bolts of electricity shot high into the sky, spider-webbing over the night before attacking the base itself. In an instant, all main power was instantly shut off. The secret base was suddenly as dark as the Antarctic night around it.

Dr. Grey's eyes snapped open. She saw the glow of the red emergency lights and felt the bitter wind from the outside Antarctic blow up her pants and flood through her grey jumpsuit. NO! The cushioning lead barrier between the experiments and the sensitive Antarctic environment had been destroyed! The woman smelt the smoke of burning wires, electronics and robotics. Dr. Grey struggled to move and found her body caked in debris. Getting to her knees, her head struck something. Looking up, she was shocked to see that there was a huge structural support above her; nearly flattening her as the explosion decimated her laboratory.

Dr. Grey's jumpsuit was in ribbons and her skin was badly burned. Pushing passed the debris blocking her path the stinging wind-whipped snow lost its touch when a terrible sound filled her ears. Looking up, through the blackness of the night and white-out cased by the wind she saw… something. The outline of some huge mass about fifteen feet high and ten feet across could be seen in the sheets of wind-blown snow! But the size of the thing did not frighten her; it was the realization that her experiment gave mass to pure energy. And it was now loose!

As the snow hit it, it immediately melted, sending wave after wave of sparks off of the mass. Dr. Grey scrambled to get to the door and into the rest of her base when she saw Deadbolt sparking under a pile of crumbled building.

"Deadbolt!" The scientist called out, rushing to her robotic assistant. Tossing chunks of rubble from her robot, Dr. Grey saw that his artificial intelligence was still functioning.

"_L-L-Lady. P-p-p-power r-r-readings ar-r-re off th-th-the charts. Y-you m-m-must get t-to s-safet-t-ty_." Deadbolt garbled and sparked before his fractured robotic eyes came to the mass of living energy behind her, now approaching. "_B-b-behind y-you_!"

The woman craned her head around and saw the wave of sparks from the energy being advancing on her. Dr. Grey gasped and rushed to her feet. The woman heard the mass of energy hit Deadbolt. With an aggressive electronic hiss, all of the robot's energy was depleted and it fell lifeless. That amplified the fear factor all ready coursing through her body.

Dr. Grey could now see the crushed doorway to the rest of her base. Clamoring over the mounds of unstable debris, with a freak energy experiment on her tail, the female scientist was having difficulty getting away. Suddenly a chunk of flaming roof fell from above. Dr. Grey had no time to dodge it and the hunk of flaming debris fell on her. Immediately she heard a sickening crack from her shoulder as the hot mass of roof pinned her to the ground. The pain never registered, since all she could think about was getting away from her experiment.

The hissing of moisture on energy was now sounding in her ears. Looking upwards, the physics scientist saw the invisible energy monster nearly on her.

Dr. Grey suddenly looked to the doorway. The woman saw her fifteen-year-old daughter cradling her pet cat standing at the wrecked entrance, mouth open and horror on her young face. Before Miranda could call to her, she felt her energy getting sucked out of her by the energy monster.

Dr. Miranda Grey could not warn her daughter as her world went black.

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R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	2. Plea For Aid

Ohyaho everyone! CJzilla here with another update! In this chapter the Secret Saturdays get a vague distress call. Responding to it, they have no idea what awaits them. Enjoy.

As I trample this city under my claws, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... hate... Review.

_KaliAnn: Thanks for reviewing again. Dr. Grey is dabbling in experimental molecular energy. It will clear up in the incoming chapters._

_Bookworm1994: Thanks 1994! Here's another chapter for you._

_Amaris Solbes de la Vega: Short but default chapters usually are. I hope you enjoy this fic as much as the last one I wrote. Enjoy._

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Chapter 2

_Plea For Aid_

Thousands of miles to the north west of the Antarctic Circle, the temperature was picturesque on the Pacific Coast of the Untied States of America. It was just a usual Tuesday for a family of six. The Secret Saturdays as they were called, were something of legend within the Secret Scientist community. For the not-so-normal Secret Saturdays, studying cryptids was a family affair. As it turns out folktales aren't just legends, but actual mysteries that need solving. Though living hidden and nonexistent to the public, what the Saturdays do affect all normal people more than they realize. Solomon "Doc", Drew, Zak, Fiskerton, Zon and Komodo Saturday are the only ones standing between you and all the things that go "bump" in the night.

Currently Doc, leader and father extraordinaire, was busy with the newest discovery on one of their oldest conquests: The Cryptid Kur and a map etched into a mystical stone. Drew Saturday, mother and second in command to the Saturday family, was helping her husband translate this newly found symbol.

""Walk"-…um… no; "walking"-… trickery." Drew translated a very old symbol on the aged Kur Stone. The curvy woman with seductive eyes and orange and black jumpsuit held a book in one hand as she tried to make out this rare character. ""Forests of water… walking trickery"…?"

Drew fell silent as her husband spoke her thoughts.

"That doesn't make any sense." Doc stated his chin in his hand. "Ocean-dwelling kelp forests _could_ be considered "forests of water", but there's no way one could walk through them let alone with trickery."

The white-haired woman checked her translation and the symbol.

"Well, after this riddle, the symbol is ancient Inca. Maybe "Forests of water" is the rainforest?" Drew answered her husband. Doc paced a little.

"That would be my second guess." He gave her a faint smile over the thought fogging his face. "But I'd like to be one-hundred percent sure. Most of our findings with the Kur Stone were by accident. You remember the magma lizard of Chili? Or what about the Owl Man? We wouldn't have found out their link to Kur unless it wasn't by accident."

Drew giggled a little before sitting down in her chair and held her hands to her eyes.

"Fine, Dr. Thorough. I'll crosscheck anything about kelp forests and see if we get something." The woman returned, rubbing her tired eyes. Doc stopped his pacing momentarily to watch his wife.

The white-haired woman looked tired and haggard. For the last two weeks, he and Drew had been staring at the Kur Stone, trying to understand riddles and link them to landmarks, cryptids, plants, whatever they could to find the location of the next clue. Though Doc could do this all day and all night, he felt a twinge of guilt as he looked at his wife. Kur and its mystery were getting in the way of his family.

"You know, we've been at this for a couple weeks." The tall black man suddenly said, suddenly feeling how tired his own eyes were. "I see the Kur Stone in my sleep and we seem to be chasing one false lead after another. I can't remember the last time I said a sentence without "Kur" in it."

Drew sighed and closed the book on her lap. Opening her dark eyes, she looked over to her weary husband.

"Maybe we need a break, huh?" She asked, a fatigued lopsided smile on her face. "What do you say you and I get away for a little while?"

Doc walked over to his wife and set a hand on the chair's head-rest.

"And what about our boys and Zon?" The tall black man quirked a brow. Drew laughed a little.

"We call in a babysitter." The woman chirped. "I bet Dr. Beeman would be _overjoyed_ to baby-sit again!"

Doc scoffed playfully before he stretched.

"In light of what happened on that night, Arthur wouldn't step two feet in our direction. Besides, I don't trust Zak and everyone else to behave." He couldn't help but smile. "It's probably best that we take them wherever we go."

Drew giggled.

"Okay." She agreed. "So… Tokyo? What about Calcutta? Is Paris too much to ask for?"

"Paris? Seriously?" Doc's eyes came back to his wife's. The woman sighed and stood.

"Just-… just throwing it out there." She rested her head on Doc's chest, listening to his heart beat. "Well, if we're taking everyone with us, we might as well pick somewhere fun."

"One bratty eleven-year-old boy with cryptid powers and the exotic creatures he calls friends… Well, that's not exactly theme park material." The man voiced. Drew smiled.

Zak was the quick-witted, adventure-loving eleven-year-old son of Doc and Drew with a special talent for cryptids. With the power to reach into the minds of cryptids by telepathy, Zak Saturday has a special bond with the world's exotic creatures.

Completing their family of six would be Fiskerton, Zon and Komodo. The Fiskerton Phantom, or Fisk for short, is a seven-foot-tall gorilla-cat with glowing red eyes and one of the last remaining to an old cryptid race of Fiskerton Phantoms. Zon, the newest addition to the Secret Saturday team, is a spirited female Ornithocheirous with teal scales, bright pink eyes and a love for the outdoors. Finally Komodo, a bottomless pit of a komodo dragon with a genetically-altered ability to turn invisible whenever he chooses was as loyal as a dog, unless food was in question.

Meanwhile Zak, the eleven-year-old boy of Drew and Doc Saturday was executing a mission of stealth that was so important, the rest of the day's entertainment hinged on it.

Zak heard only his heart beating in his ears as he hid in a shady tree, inside his mom's exotic cryptid plant garden. Even for being up here for only five minuets, his feet were starting to hurt as he balanced on that branch. How Fisk could hang out in trees all the time was beyond him. Speaking of the seven-foot-tall gorilla-cat, the Fiskerton Phantom was patiently crouched beside his best friend, watching the garden below with a sick smile on his furry face. Today's project: scaring Komodo into next Thursday.

Fisk and Zak put a lot of thought into this prank; roughly _two_ minuets… after getting bored with their video game. Komodo had a good scare coming for a long time now. Since the big genetically-altered komodo dragon had the ability to go invisible and visible whenever he wanted, he was always scaring everybody else; sweet revenge was in order. Now Zak and Fisk were poised to scare Komodo at the lizard's favorite sunning spot. Komodo just couldn't resist the sun-crystals that provided light for this underground garden.

"Remember the plan, Fisk." Zak whispered to his best friend and "brother". "When Komodo just starts to lie down, you drop me down from the tree and I'll grab him!"

"Grabimsisubo!" The gorilla-cat gave a thumbs up. Just as those words left Fisk's mouth, the door to the garden opened and in marched Komodo.

Komodo was two-hundred and fifty pounds of ravenous appetite and teeth. Despite being cold-blooded, Komodo could move reasonably fast when he wanted to; our two pranksters has to hit hard and run fast.

Fisk and Zak carefully watched their prey move into position. Komodo walked to an open, grass-covered area. He circled once or twice before lying down and enjoying the artificial sunlight. Zak and Fisk stifled laughter and nodded at each other. Silently and carefully gorilla-cat and eleven-year-old boy slipped out of their hiding place. Their feet barely made a sound as they tiptoed across the grass toward Komodo. Komodo hadn't moved which meant he was completely relaxed. Just as Zak and Fisk were within pouncing range, the boy stopped. Giving his best friend a gesture to stay quiet, the eleven-year-old jumped forward.

Zak stalked forward and was just about to dig his cold fingers into Komodo's ribcage. Then suddenly an ear-shattering alarm slammed through the Saturday base. Fisk, Zak and Komodo jumped ten-feet in the air.

On the other side of the house, Drew was still talking to Doc, trying to arrange a "Saturday-family" friendly break. So far the four, Zak, Komodo, Zon and Fisk, seemed to start trouble wherever they went.

"Okay. How about this:" She gave her husband a warm smile. "We put Kur aside for one evening, get some snacks and watch a movie. Like normal families."

Doc smiled at his wife.

"That sounds great-" Just then the alarms of an emergency, in-coming transmission shrieked through the base. The two adults groaned.

"C'mon." Drew sighed. "Let's go find out the nature of the latest earth-ending catastrophe."

Both adults ran out of the room, leaving the Kur Stone inside the secure room.

Drew and Doc made it to the control room. Seconds later Fisk, Komodo and Zak came running into the room, Zak on Fisk's shoulders. The three boys skidded on the floor and came to a stop in a heap at Drew's feet.

"We're here!" Zak jumped to his feet. "What's the emergency?!"

"We'll all find out in a second, Zak." She looked up to her husband, typing on the controls. Then there was a concerned and confused look on Doc's features.

"Incoming… it's a distress call." He voiced to his family.

"Distress? From who?" Drew ran up to her husband as he was filtering through the strange SOS.

Zak, Fisk and Komodo zipped to the upper platform with their family.

"An SOS from…" Doc paused, waiting for the SOS's signature. Then his eyes widened. "From Antarctica; Dr. Miranda Grey's frequency."

Drew gasped and nearly pushed Doc out of the way as she hungrily read the message's origins. Fisk looked at Zak and quirked a furry brow.

"IsiusGreyismur?" The gorilla-cat whispered to his best friend. Zak nodded.

"Dr. Miranda Grey. You know, the physics and particle mumbo-jumbo specialist." Fisk still looked clueless. "Red hair, keeps in a bun? Seems to have a control and seriousness complex?"

Fisk then placed a face to the name.

"Oh! Umbumisur!" The seven-foot-tall gorilla-cat nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

"Wha-?" Drew's words died in her mouth as she gave her husband a worried look. Doc went back to the message.

"But Miranda's not sending a visual message… It's worded; just like a letter or text." The super-genius quirked a brow. Grunting in frustration, he put the worded message on screen.

The Saturday family quickly read over the short but obviously urgent message.

_/SOS to Secret Saturday base of the Pacific Coast. Antarctic SS base, laboratory of Dr. Miranda Grey desperately in need of immediate assistance! Experiment gone catastrophically wrong, resulted in unimaginable and uncontrollable monster. Help desperately needed. Come immediately!/_

For once, the control room was silent. The Saturdays stood there, mouths agape, not able to move. Finally Doc broke the silence.

"What in the world-?" The tall black man whispered to himself.

"It's a trap. It's a trap sent by Argost!" Drew stomped her foot. Doc shook his head.

"No. That message had Dr. Grey's frequency on it. But why would she send a text? Why no video feed? Why so low-tech?" The super-genius held his chin. "That part confuses me."

Zak groaned.

"So? Dr. Grey's video messaging was probably damaged by that monster!" The eleven-year-old pointed at the screen. Drew and Doc glanced at each other. "We gotta help her! Why are we standing around?!"

"Sweetie, we have to make sure we're not walking into a trap." Drew stated, her face soft at her son. Then she felt Doc put a hand on her shoulder.

"We have a fifty-fifty chance, Drew. Dr. Grey would come to our help even if we sent a message in a bottle." The man voiced. "It's either a trap or Miranda's really in trouble. I'm not going to risk her life on our suspicion."

Drew gave a soft nod. Doc looked over at his son, gorilla-cat and genetically-altered komodo dragon.

"You have ten minuets to pack all the emergency equipment into the zeppelin." The tall man gave a small grin at his son. "We leave in twenty minuets."

Zak saluted and raced toward the exit, Fisk and Komodo on his heels. As soon as the boys were gone, Doc looked at his wife.

"I'll send a reply. Hopefully Miranda can hold on for a few more hours." He spoke solemnly. Drew shared her husband's concern.

"I've never known her experiments to… backfire so catastrophically." She voiced. Doc shook his head.

"Backfire? No. I bet she did just exactly what she wanted but it got away from her." The super-genius looked back at the flickering message on the screen. "So far, we're the only hope for Miranda."

Minuets later Zak, Fisk, Komodo and even Zon the female Ornithocheirous were throwing rescue equipment as fast as they could into the super-zeppelin. Komodo was making a faint hissing sound, indicating he was quietly laughing at Fisk and Zak, seeing that their prank failed. The gorilla-cat and eleven-year-old rolled their eyes at the snickering komodo dragon as Zon quietly observe the boys.

"Don't look so smug you walking fossil." Zak stuck his tongue out at the big lizard. "Me an' Fisk will get you when you least expect it."

Still Komodo was laughing as he turned invisible and stalked into the blimp, Zon walking after him. Fisk and Zak sighed as they watched the big lizard disappear.

"He is a ninja and cannot be caught." The eleven-year-old shook his head. Fisk made a face.

"Grabimsisubo." The gorilla-cat gave a mischievous smile. Zak laughed.

"But now he's onto us. It's gonna be a lot harder to scare him now." The preteen returned, rubbing his hands together with an evil scheme. "But not impossible. We'll get him soon enough."

As Zak and Fisk shared an evil moment of ominous snickering, Doc and Drew came walking up to the super-blimp.

"Ready to go, everyone?" Doc called out.

"Yep!" The eleven-year-old boy saluted as his parents moved into the zeppelin.

"Yessurmurg!" Fisk saluted with Zak. The scientists gave their son and gorilla-cat a nod.

"Then let's go. Next stop: Antarctica." Doc ushered Zak and Fisk inside.

Doc, Drew, Zak and Fisk walked into the control room. Zon and Komodo were patiently waiting for their family to join them. As everyone sat down in their chairs and buckled in, Drew glanced over at the komodo dragon and teal Ornithocheirous.

"You two aren't going to like Antarctica." The woman said to the two cold-blooded animals. "It's going to be very cold there."

Komodo flicked his tail with little concern as Zon gave the woman a disinterested look. Drew shrugged.

"Everyone buckled in?" Doc passed his eyes back at Zak, Fisk, Zon and Komodo. Komodo and Zon were quietly sitting to the side, bracing themselves for the slight jolt to come.

"You got it pop!" Zak waved from his chair and console.

"Got it!" Fisk garbled, giving a double thumbs-up.

"Drew, please initiate the horizontal thrusts." He voiced. Drew's hands went to her control counter and ran her fingers along six blinking lights.

Drew flicked a switch with her finger-tip and the roar of the thrusters was felt throughout the zeppelin.

"Horizontal thrusts activated." She returned giving her husband a firm nod.

"Engaging automatic launch." Doc pressed a button.

The ship moved with its automatic pilot and began its reposition for air-travel. With little more than a slight jerk, the zeppelin was airborne and flying over the cliffs that lined the seashore. The cryptids, Zak and Drew began moving about now that they were safely in the air. Doc looked back at his family.

"We'll be in Antarctica within two and a half hours." The super-genius voiced to his family. "But in the meantime, everyone needs to have their cold-weather gear and equipment prepared. This is a rescue mission. We don't know what Dr. Grey's situation is, so we need to hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

"Doc…" Drew spoke up. "Keep the com lines open. If we get another message from Miranda, I want to hear it."

Doc nodded.

"If Miranda so much as hiccups, we'll hear it." The super-genius answered. "Don't worry, Drew."

Just then Zak cleared his throat.

"We've just received the weather report for inland Antarctica." The eleven-year-old stated. Drew and Doc looked at their son.

"Go ahead." Doc nodded. Zak turned back to the consol that held the weather readings for Antarctica.

"There's a ginormous storm system moving over our half of the continent. High winds and wind-blown snow; whiteouts expected. A high of five degrees and a low of 45 below." The eleven-year-old shivered. "Woo! I already feel cold just by reading this. What kind of crazy person LIVES there?"

Drew looked at her son.

"Dr. Grey chose Antarctica due to the isolation." She answered.

"There's no better place to perform experiments on physics and particles. There are no living things within many miles to Dr. Grey's laboratory and so nothing could be harmed." Doc added. Then he shrugged. "I suppose you have to be a little crazy to live there. I know I wouldn't keep my sanity very long surrounded by snow and ice."

Zak waved his hand disinterestedly.

"Yeah, yeah. But think of _all_ the sledding and snowball fights we could have! All of the endless snowmen, snow-forts and tunnels!" The eleven-year-old rattled off, smiling at Fisk. "We could shred every snow dune! That would be _awesome_!"

"Honey? Temperatures drop so low that you're clothes would freeze way before you got to throwing a snowball." Drew giggled a little. "That is if the wind doesn't blow you away."

Fisk and Zak looked at Doc and Drew before they glanced at each other.

"Like I said: what kind of CRAZY person lives there?!" The preteen boy gestured wildly.

"Forsureismu." Fisk folded his lanky arms and nodded in agreement.

"Be grateful, Zak." Doc smirked. "We had the option of Antarctica as our HQ. If the situation was just right, you could be marching with the penguins right now."

Zak stuck out his tongue at his father.

"Yeah well, you two decided not to cast off society _completely_." The eleven-year-old returned. "Dr. Grey is SO high-strung, she squeaks when she walks!"

Fisk laughed along with his best friend and both crashed to the ground. Doc snickered with his boys and Drew herself fought off a smirk.

"Zak! You know that's not true." Drew shook her head. Zak stopped his laughing to get up from the floor.

"NO! That's totally true!" The preteen threw his hands in the air. "You remember the last Secret Scientists' award ceremony you dragged me to? We were sitting at the same table as and I told that joke about the booger and the napkin? Dr. Grey nearly popped a vein! She HATES kids!"

Doc cleared his throat, trying to stop his giggles.

"Zak, that was four years ago. You gotta let that stuff go." The super-genius clapped his hand over his mouth, in attempt to hide his smile. "But that booger in the napkin joke is classic."

"Besides, I think she'll appreciate you more seeing that we're on our way to rescue her." Drew looked up at her husband and let out her smile. "She'll probably be so happy to see you, I bet she'd _love_ to hear the booger joke again."

Zak huffed and sat back down.

"Sure. Right after I show her the cheesy rubber pencil gag." The eleven-year-old returned. "Maybe then she'd be ready for the spitting water synchronization me and Fisk have been working on."

Fisk giggled.

"Grossurisr." The gorilla-cat smiled as he and Zak high-fived.

The Saturdays had no clue what to expect once they made landfall in Antarctica. The SOS message they received from Dr. Grey was not clear on the scientist's health status, what type of monster was created and if it could be stopped. They'd know once they got there.

Three and a half hours later, there was a large ice-pack about a mile from the landmass of Antarctica. Though they were far from Dr. Grey's laboratory, the forceful winds and weather of the icy continent was threatening to rip the zeppelin apart.

"Doc, the wind is getting pretty heavy. We should pull up to where the air is calmer." Drew voiced as the zeppelin bucked and trembled with the turbulent winds. Doc was snapped out of his trance and looked up from his radar.

"Then we'll go higher." The super-genius returned. Nodding at her husband's conformation, Drew pulled the controls on a gradual ascent.

Doc checked the readings of Dr. Grey's laboratory.

"Drew, I know the location of Miranda's lab but I have no power reading." The man shook his head. "No readings from _any _energy source, not even an electric toothbrush!"

Drew gulped.

"Wha-what do you think, then?" She was almost afraid of the answer as Fisk, Zak, Komodo and Zon joined them, attracted by their voices. Doc shook his head.

"In a word: grim." He responded. "And I mean there are NO energy sources, including the energy signatures of a human body."

Zak's face fell.

"So… should we… go home then?" The eleven-year-old questioned. "Cause if there's no human signatures…"

Doc narrowed his eyes as he looked out the window at the big white expanse that they were flying over.

"No. We fly on. Dr. Grey said there was a monster wreaking havoc. It's our duty to stop it." The man answered. The family fell into a mournful silence.

No life signatures that meant Dr. Grey was… no more.

Then suddenly, the computer chirped with an incoming message.

"We got something coming in." Doc studied the source and his face lifted. "With Miranda's frequency on it."

The tall black man let the message come up on the huge monitor.

_/Reading your presence, Secret Saturdays. It is imperative that you do not land. Repeat: do not land! Base is destroyed, communicating from safehouse eight kilometers north-west from laboratory. Rendezvous there. Imperative that you not land your airship here. The monster will attack it!/_

The family read the message and instantly their eyebrows shot up.

"Don't land? Well, how are we supposed to-?" Zak questioned. Doc cut him off.

"Drew, I'll send a message back. Prime the Saturday snowmobiles. We're going to have to go directly to the surface." Doc then set to work on sending a message back to Dr. Grey. Drew hopped up from her chair and ran to the cargo hold, Zak on her heels.

"Woo hoo! We're going mobile! _SNOW_mobile!" The eleven-year-old ran after his mom, Fisk and Komodo on his heels.

As soon as his family, except for Zon was out of the room, Doc could concentrate. He sent the reply.

_**Dr. Grey, what is the nature of your emergency?**_

He waited. An incoming message was received. What he saw stunned him.

_/Dr. Grey is unconscious and unstable. She was caught when her lab destroyed. She has a fractured shoulder, burns, cuts and has not returned to consciousness since monster attack. No power and Deadbolt is down. I'm the only one down here./_

Doc blinked and shook his head. Dr. Grey was alone! She never had visitors and no family. His fingers seemed to move over the keyboard on their own/

_**Who is speaking?**_

There was a brief pause as the message was received.

_/Annabelle Grey. Dr. Grey's daughter./_

Doc's mouth dropped open. Dr. Grey had a DAUGHTER?!

* * *

R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	3. Annabelle

Hey everyone! CJzilla here with an update. In this chapter you will meet Annabelle as the Saturdays try to rescue a critically injured Dr. Miranda Grey and out run the energy monster. Enjoy.

As CJzilla stomps all over this city, alls I have to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Review.

AN: CJzilla will do a "dear reviewers" next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3

_Annabelle_

Doc's hands hovered over the keyboard, a question burning in his mind and now in his fingertips. Dr. Miranda Grey has a daughter? What his son had said about the physics expert: she hated kids; she could barely stomach Zak, who was for the most part, a good kid. What was Miranda doing with a child and why did he not know about this?

Then another incoming message chirped, tearing Doc's mind off of his question.

_/This monster eats energy. If you land your airship here, it will be a beacon for this monster; an all-you-can-eat-energy-buffet! The monster will attack any strong signature of energy and consume it on site. Awaiting suggestions on how to extract Dr. Grey and me./_

The snowmobiles had an advanced energy cell that powered them. With an energy eating monster on the surface, was that such a good idea? Doc's face creased. As of right now… snowmobiles were the ONLY option.

**We are about fifteen minuets still from you. Be ready for a fast extraction. Remain calm and stay smart. We will be with you shortly.**

Doc sent the message and sighed. This was not going to be easy.

_/Roger. Annabelle standing by./_

The Saturdays' problems were just beginning; an injured scientists, her secret daughter and the monster an experiment created. Doc sighed again. Then he felt a nudge on his arm. Looking up, he saw Zon, staring at him with those big pink eyes.

"You better get comfortable, Zon. You're not going to fly or function much in this weather." The tall black man stroked the female Ornithocheirous's mane. Zon purred in return before Doc went back to the scanners.

Less than fifteen minuets later, the Saturdays were hovering over the decimated remains of Dr. Grey's laboratory. Zak, Fisk, Zon and Komodo had their faces pressed against the glass of the zeppelin's windows, looking at the icy landscape below them. There were no trees, no bushes, no grass, no green thing to be seen; just a never ending panorama of white. Dr. Grey's research station was situated between two icy hills that jutted out of the white landscape. But as of today… the quality of visibility was only thirty feet.

"I can't see a thing, dad." Zak admitted. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see the laboratory. "We could be over a Las Vegas light show and I still couldn't see it."

Doc said nothing, just keeping a straight face.

"Doc, we have high winds on the Arctic surface. Our visibility isn't going to be so great." Drew called up to her husband. The man looked out over his family. "Are you sure we can't land? The added stability on the ice would keep the airship grounded longer. If we don't land, you might have only a small window to extract Dr. Grey before the winds blow the ship away."

"I know. But we were told not to land. We'd be even more useless if that monster destroyed the airship." Doc replied. Then his eyes got sharp with seriousness. "Our mission just got complicated. That the last message I received informed me that Dr. Grey is seriously injured."

Drew's face fell as Doc looked straight at her.

"Drew, you are to remain here and prep the medical station. If Dr. Grey is as injured as Annabelle says she is, then we're going to need be prepared for it." The super-genius spoke.

Everyone gave him a funny look.

""Annabelle"?" Zak scrunched his nose. "Who's Annabelle?"

"Dr. Grey's daughter. She is the one sending those distress transmissions." Doc answered. Still, his family looked at him funny.

"Miranda doesn't have a daughter." Drew said stupidly. "Or friends! That creepy robot is her only assistant down there!"

Her husband shrugged back.

"We'll only know once we get down there." Doc turned to Zak and Fisk. "Fisk, Zak; you two are with me. We have to move fast. The monster Dr. Grey created eats energy. So the longer we're on the surface, the longer we're exposed to attack."

Zak glanced at Fisk. The gorilla-cat shrugged.

"Drew, keep your ears open for the equipment, especially energy spikes. I'm hoping that's a telltale sign of this monster." Doc added, pointing to his wife. Then he gestured to Zak and Fisk. "C'mon. We're taking two snowmobiles, one will have a med-cart attached to it. The winch has to be ready to hoist up Dr. Grey and the snowmobiles. I don't want this monster to catch us off-guard."

With that Doc, Fisk and Zak trotted toward the cargo bay.

"Annabelle said that she and Dr. Grey are inside of a safe-house eight kilometers from the original base." Doc voiced, giving Fisk and Zak a rundown as they slipped into their snowsuits.

Fisk popped on a pair of snow-proof goggles and stood alongside Zak, helping the boy get into his gloves.

"Kilometers? We're going metric, dad?" The eleven-year-old quipped. Doc smirked at his boy.

"No. But Dr. Grey is from Great Britain; they use the metric system over there. I'm guessing Annabelle has been taught the same thing." The tall man returned, flicking up his hood over his head as he straddled the snowmobile. Then he glanced between Zak and the second snowmobile. "Fisk, you drive."

Zak groaned loudly as Fisk cheered. The gorilla-cat somersaulted to the snowmobile and sat on it, making engine noises. The eleven-year-old followed and sat behind his furry best friend, pouting.

"Now you follow my lead, Fisk. Whatever you do, don't get separated!" Doc added before he looked over at his family. "You ready?"

Zak and Fisk gave a thumbs up. Doc nodded and hit a button on his wrist controller. The platform underneath them suddenly jerked before it began to slowly descend. Instantaneously fast and icy Arctic winds whipped through the cargo hold, blowing loose items into the air. The platform lowered further and nothing but only white could be seen. Then came the blinding, stinging snow-flurries. Zak gagged, snow flying into his face, down his parka and into his underwear where he felt it collect and slowly melt into his pants. The eleven-year-old groaned but was careful to keep his mouth closed lest he get a mouthful of snow. Antarctica: home of penguins, loads and loads of ice and one very irritable physics scientist. This was going to be a _blast_.

Finally they all felt the platform come to the ground. Doc took a quick glance at his wrist controller to find out which way was north-west. The reading finally came out. Gunning his engine, the super-genius moved off to the right and into the direction of Dr. Grey's safe house.

Visibility was zero and they could no longer hear the engines of the airship over the screaming wind. Wind-whipped snow rushed at them head-on so advancing was slow and careful. Doc kept glancing at his wrist device, which alerted him if he was drifting off course. Finally, after five minuets of getting pounded in the face by heavy head winds, the boys got around the general vicinity of the eight kilometer safe-house. Doc looked around but immediately frowned. NOTHING could be seen. It was just like Zak said: they could be on top of a Vegas light show and still couldn't see it.

Suddenly, a flash of orange light shot out of a huge snowdrift making the boys jump. It was a survival flare. The wind caught the orange flare and threw it into the snow, dousing it. But Doc had a lock on where it came from. Motioning for Fisk and Zak to carefully follow him, the tall man rode over to the snow drift. The three of them pulled to a stop in front of the drift, eyeing the immediate visibility in front of them. Suddenly another flare was sent into the air, this one whizzing dangerously close, barely missing Doc's head before hitting the snow. The super-genius snapped his eyes to the source of the flare. They all saw a faint green glow from inside the cloud of wind-blown snow. It was a glow stick, being waved back and forth. Doc pulled the snowmobile to the left and rode toward the green light. Within fifteen seconds, the boys could make out a dark hole in a snowdrift and a small shape standing at the entrance waving a glow stick.

Hopping off of his snowmobile, Doc ran to unhitch the med-cart from his vehicle. Fisk helped Doc push the med-cart into the hollowed out snowdrift. Zak gathered some medical supplies from their snowmobile before running after his dad and best friend into the hole in the snowdrift. Their eyes were still adjusting from the white, white expanse of outside to a dark man-made hole in the snow. Fortunately for them, the person holding the glow stick moved in front of them, guiding them through the darkness. Doc, Zak and Fisk followed. Before long they were led to a big metal door, which opened.

The four of them, Fisk, Zak, Doc and their glow-stick-holding-helper, walked through the door. The portal shut and instantly, everything was silent; no more screaming winds and no more snow in the face. Doc and Zak shook off the snow from their clothes while Fisk gave a really good shake. Sweeping off their hoods, Zak and Doc could now see where they were and who they were with.

They glanced around and saw the other person, whom Doc supposed was Annabelle Grey, stand in front of the metal door. She was standing straight and silent and looked as if she was listening.

"Are you Annabelle?" Doc asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulders. The girl spun and took off her hood.

The Saturday boys were surprised. The girl before them had to be about fifteen with her thick red hair formed into a floppy twisted bun, leaving her bangs and few locks of her hair to play around her face. Her eyes were dark but big, speaking a thousand words before she even opened her mouth. Her face was heart-shaped, graceful but still maintaining an adolescent look. Zak blinked at her, surprised to see someone so pretty in such a icy wasteland.

She carefully studied the man in front of her. Her eyes went from his white and black hair, his height and finally his scar and his silver eye.

"_Yes_." Another shocker. The girl's voice, though even and natural, had a robotic ring to it. "_Are you Solomon Saturday?_"

Zak and Fisk just stared, but Doc remained focused.

"Yes." Then the man pointed to his son and the family fur ball. "This is my son Zak and the Fiskerton Phantom. Please take us to Miranda."

Annabelle nodded and jogged toward the long and dark hall in front of them.

"_This way!_" She still held that glow stick, the only light source. The Saturdays ran after her, pushing the hovering med-cart.

Annabelle and the Saturdays ran through two more heavy metal doors before coming to one. This one was truly barricaded and huge. But there was no power reaching this door. The fifteen-year-old girl placed her hand on her ear and spoke out loud.

"_Cniks, restore power to Blast Door number four. I'm here with Solomon Saturday_." There was a pause as everyone kept their eyes on the door. The powerful door suddenly powered up before it opened.

Annabelle ran inside a room illuminated with lanterns, glow-sticks and one small generator. Doc, Fisk and Zak walked in with the med-cart and glanced over the room made out of snow. Boxes of food, water and survival gear was packed high to the ceiling. Doc glanced down at his wrist; his communications device wasn't receiving.

"Insulated." He grumbled. Concern nipped even more at his mind; if the monster came, they wouldn't get the radio warning from Drew.

"IsmisGreysur!" Fisk pointed. Doc jerked his head up and saw Annabelle standing aside a medical station.

Then he saw the unconscious Miranda Grey lying on the cot, her body hooked up to several machines. Doc and Zak rushed over to Miranda. The man immediately assessed the woman's injuries.

"Wow. She looks dead." Zak voiced looking at Dr. Grey's pasty completion and shallow breaths. Annabelle's face fell even more to anxiety as she held in a gasp.

Doc snapped a glare at his son. Zak gave a goofy, apologetic smile.

"How long has she been like this?" The man checked the woman's eyes. They were dilated, a sign of head trauma.

"_About five hours_." Annabelle answered, gulping hard, her face falling fearful. "_I don't know how much energy the monster drained from her but we got her away as quickly as we could_."

""We"?" Doc quirked a brow. "I thought you were alone down here."

The fifteen-year-old gestured toward one of the big emergency computers, currently not receiving power. Sitting quietly on the console was a short-haired yellow tabby cat with a fluffy tail and mischievous sandy eyes. Fisk yelped like a little girl and jumped onto the med-cart, totally freaked out at the small, weird-looking creature in front of him.

"Whoa!" Zak awed at the cat. "An actual ordinary domesticated house cat! Cool!"

For the eleven-year-old, this was a big deal. Since he dealt exclusively with cryptids and rarely ever got a glimpse outside of pictures of ordinary people's domestic pets. Zak moved over to inspect the cat, but it hissed dangerously, arching its back. He jumped back as the tabby dropped to the floor and rudely moved over to Annabelle.

"I've been snubbed." Zak glanced at Fisk as the tabby jumped onto a medical monitor next to Annabelle. The gorilla-cat was still cowering inside the med-cart.

Doc finished scanning Miranda with his wrist device and he didn't like its evaluation of her injuries.

"She won't last very long like this. We gotta get her up into the airship." The man looked over to Zak and Fisk. "Zak! Fisk! Get that med-cart over here and help me load Dr. Grey onto it."

Zak over-zealously pushed the med-cart over to Miranda's cot, knocking it into a stack of boxes in the process. Fisk nearly flew off of the cart and barely missed creaming Doc. The eleven-year-old blushed and gave a bashful smile.

"I… uh… meant to do that." Zak fumbled, clearing his throat as his father shot him a glare.

"Help me get Dr. Grey situated. But BE careful!" Doc ordered. Fisk hopped out of the med-cart while Zak moved over to Annabelle's side and helped steady the cart as his father and best friend gently set the injured scientist onto it.

The boy tried to ignore the curious look the girl was giving him before she moved out of the way. Annabelle rushed around, gathering all the blankets she could find and placed them onto her mother. Doc strapped the unconscious woman onto the cart. The fifteen-year-old girl gulped as a safe and climate-controlled plastic dome went over the med-cart and over her mother.

"We gotta go now, Annabelle." Doc voiced, setting a hand on her shoulder. Annabelle jumped under his touch but nodded.

"_C'mon Cniks_!" The girl called, turning to the tabby cat. The tabby jumped off the medical monitor, ran to the girl and leapt into her arms where he curled and glared at Zak.

Zak raised his eyebrows at the obedience of such a snotty animal. Doc and Fisk pushed the med-cart, leaving Annabelle and Zak to run ahead to open the doors. The eleven-year-old held to a glow-stick as he ran alongside the girl. The preteen looked over at the older girl and saw the look of worry on her face. What was her problem? This kinda stuff happens all the time to him and his family so why was she stressing.

"Hi!" Zak blurted out as they ran along. "I'm Zak!"

Annabelle was snapped out of her anxious thought pattern and she looked over at the boy. With all that had happened over the past five hours, she really didn't acknowledge the magnitude of visitors here. Zak was the only flesh-and-blood boy she could REMEMBER seeing. What did her mother tell her about other people? Oh yeah; NOTHING!

"_I'm Annabelle_." She blinked at him. The boy laughed.

"You look like you just swallowed something." Zak observed. "Relax! Me and my family are professional adventurers! You can't be in safer hands Annabelle. We've handled all sorts of dangerous missions! Like there was that time with the Amazon that we faced down a whole pack of these nasty cryptids while fighting V.V. Argost and Munya. Or that time I nearly became Owlman food! I get my family into a lot of pickles. Speaking of pickles, I half-expected you to be a popsicle since you live here! But you're a GIRL!"

The eleven-year-old had a bad case of motor-mouth and he kept blurting out things before he thought them through.

"I mean, you're no popsicle, but a GIRL! That's funny." Zak gave a big smile. Annabelle gave him an uncomfortable, pity smile before she looked forward, ignoring him.

Zak then realized he'd just made her uncomfortable. He face-palmed and accidentally poked himself in the eye with the glow-stick.

"OW!" Zak growled as he dropped the glow-stick to the ground. He stopped to pick up the glow-stick before his dad and Fisk ran him over with the hovering med-cart.

Doc and Fisk didn't realize they ran him over until the eleven-year-old popped out at their feet.

"What are you doing?" Doc questioned, brow quirked. Zak pulled his face out of the snowy pathway and spat.

"Counting snowflakes, _dad_!" The eleven-year-old snapped. He jumped to his feet. "You ran me OVER!"

Fisk chuckled at his best friend but Doc was less than amused.

"Zak, this place is insulated from all radio waves. That means we have no way of knowing if the energy creature is sitting on our snowmobiles waiting for us!" The tall man voiced. "So hurry up and stop playing in the snow."

Zak frowned but marched ahead with the glow-stick. But that time he realized that they were at the last metal door and that Annabelle was standing motionlessly in front of it again; quiet and still, like she was listening.

"Open the door, Annabelle!" Zak called to her. The fifteen-year-old girl jumped and flipped up her hood before opening the door.

Icy Arctic winds blew through the ice hallways. Wind-blown snow hit everyone and made moving that more difficult. Annabelle was the first to run out with her cat in her arms. Zak ran after her followed by Fisk, Doc, the med-cart and the unconscious Dr. Grey. They saw the dark outlines of the snowmobiles now caked in wind-blown snow. While Fisk and Doc hooked the med-cart to the back of Doc's snowmobile, Zak jumped on the other snowmobile. The eleven-year-old dug through one of the saddle bag before he pulled out the Claw a.k.a. the Hand of Tsul'Kalu.

"Hey Annabelle!" Zak called to the girl, waving his specialty cryptid weapon. "Check this out!"

Annabelle turned to the boy and her eyes softened with curiosity as she saw the odd device in his hand. Zak smirked and flicked his wrist. The weapon's tether shot the three-fingered claw to the snow. The Claw closed over a bunch of snow and with another flick of his wrist, Zak threw the snowball. The winds caught the snowball and boomeranged it. It flew and beaned Fisk in the side of the face. The Fiskerton Phantom yelped in surprise, falling on Doc. Zak was in stitches but Annabelle was less than amused, try close to horrified.

"Saddle up!" Doc pushed Fisk off of him. "Annabelle! You're with me!"

The fifteen-year-old girl ran over to the man. Doc took the controls but sat Annabelle and her cat in front of him. As soon as Fisk and Zak were on the other snowmobile, Doc gunned the engines and took off toward the airship. Suddenly Doc's wrist communicator crackled back to life.

"DOC! Thank heavens you're all right!" Drew's image was seen on the small holographic screen. Though she saw a girl and a CAT she's never seen before, Drew started calling out warnings to her husband. "We have a MASSIVE energy reading coming from RIGHT IN FRONT OF-!"

Static. Something was messing up communications!

"Drew! Do you read me, Drew?!" Nothing. Doc growled.

Then he heard Annabelle gasp. The fifteen-year-old jerked the snowmobile's controls out of Doc's hands and craned them over to the right. The man seized the steering wheel and straightened them out before the hitch of the med-cart shattered.

"Annabelle!" Doc barked at her over the wind and snow. But Annabelle grabbed the accelerator and yanked it back.

The snowmobile, med-cart, two people and one cat went screaming forward; Fisk and Zak following their lead. Once again Doc grabbed the controls.

"WHAT are you trying to pull?! You could have tipped us!" He reprimanded. Annabelle wasn't even listening to him; she was looking over to the far left.

"_It's out there! We were driving right into it_!" The fifteen-year-old went for the accelerator again but she couldn't break Doc's firm grip on it. "_We_ _have to get out of here! It's changing course_!"

Suddenly Doc's communicator's frequency was restored.

"Doc! Come in Doc!" Drew's face appeared again. She saw that Doc was all right. "Get out of there! The HUGE energy creature is chasing you! Get back to the airship as fast as you can!"

"Roger." The man nodded. Doc looked over his shoulder to Fisk and Zak and motioned for them to follow.

Gunning the engine, Doc took off into the white-out in the direction of the airship.

They were nearly there when the hitch to the med-cart shattered after all the high-speed jolting. The med-cart with the unconscious Dr. Miranda Grey inside fell off of Doc's snowmobile. Doc and Annabelle felt the jerk of the damaged hitch before the glanced back and saw the hover-med-cart floating off in the wind. Doc and Annabelle gasped. Fisk and Zak saw the med-cart being blown away. Zak spun in his seat and fired the Claw. The tether hooked onto the med-cart and stopped it from floating away.

"Go Fisk!" The preteen called to his best friend. The gorilla-cat nodded and took off back over to Doc and Annabelle.

Zak held his Claw and held onto the snowmobile with his legs. The med-cart and winds were threatening to pull him off! Not a second too soon, Doc, Annabelle, Fisk, Zak, Cniks and injured Dr. Grey were at the airship rendezvous point.

"Drew! We're in position! Come back down to us!" Doc called to his communicator as Zak and Fisk pulled up next to them with the med-cart. Not even a second later, the wind shifted around them and a huge dark mass descended from the sky.

It was the airship.

"Lower the platform, Drew!" The man called to his wrist over the wind. He felt Annabelle grab his wrist.

Looking down, he saw the frightened girl point over his shoulder. Craning around, Doc looked into the wind-blown curtains of snow. There was something advancing on them. As the snow hit the unseen thing, it immediately melted, sending wave after wave of sparks off of the mass. In that second, Doc saw something through the curtain of wind-blown snow. The outline of some huge mass about fifteen feet high and ten feet across could be seen in the sheets of wind-blown snow. It made a horrible humming sound that grew so loud, it sounded like a metallic scream.

"Doc! The energy creature's right behind you!" Drew warned.

"I know! Lower the winch and the ropes! We don't have time for anything else!" Doc barked back. He jumped off of the snowmobile as the airship above them lowered the winch and four ropes. "Everyone off the snowmobiles! Leave them!"

The winch lowered and Doc and Fisk attached it to Dr. Grey's med-cart.

"Fisk, Zak! Get upstairs!" Doc ordered grabbing a rope. "Annabelle! Come here."

Annabelle ran over to Doc. The super-genius grabbed her and her cat with one arm as Fisk grabbed his rope with his free hand and Zak with his other. Doc, Fisk, Zak, Annabelle, Cniks and Dr. Grey began to ascend to the airship. But just then a huge gust of Arctic winds whipped and tossed everyone like yoyos.

"Hang on Annabelle!" Doc shouted to her, his grip beginning to give. Annabelle let go of her cat, which scrambled on top of Doc's head.

With her cat safe, the girl held to the man's jacket. Doc's arm was free and he could grip the rope with both hands. The wind blew and but everyone held strong. Just then Doc's coat shredded where the Annabelle handholds were. The girl fell fast and hit the snow hard.

"Annabelle!" Zak gasped as he saw the girl lie still. Everyone else made it safely into the cargo hold.

Fisk dropped Zak and both ran to the cargo bay doors. They saw the outline of, what they guessed, was the monster coming right for Annabelle. The girl got to her knees only to see the energy monster advancing on her.

"I need a rope!" The eleven-year-old boy blurted out to the Fiskerton Phantom. "She's gonna get creamed!"

They were about to move when they heard something strange. Looking down to the ground below, they both saw Annabelle open her mouth and scream. What left her mouth rattled the airship and stopped the energy creature cold. Annabelle's "scream" hit a decibel that no normal human scream could. It made the entire area tremble. But then she closed her mouth and the sound stopped. Zak took that moment to grab a rope and drop down to her.

"Annabelle!" The preteen called out. The girl looked up and saw Zak descending toward her.

Zak dropped to the snow and he and Annabelle grabbed the rope. The rope carried both of them to the cargo hold, just as the monster moved to where they were once standing. The two kids were pulled into the cargo hold.

"Everyone's in safe! Go Drew!" Doc called on his comm. Everyone felt the ship lift.

They held their breath for a few long seconds before they were sure they were out of range of the energy monster. Zak helped Annabelle to her feet. The fifteen-year-old girl gave a shy smile before her cat jumped into her arms.

"Is everyone all right?" Doc questioned looking over his family and their guests.

Everyone nodded. Doc breathed a sigh of relief. That was TOO close.

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R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	4. Secrets and Slip Ups

Ohyaho everyone! Sorry about the late update. I have another story that's eating my lunch right now. Anyway, in this chapter Zak and Annabelle are forced to hang out while Dr. Grey is being stabilized. Annabelle isn't handling her situation very well and making it hard for Zak to understand. Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... hate... review.

_Bookworm1994: Sorry about the long wait. Here's another chapter for you._

_KaliAnn: Thanks Kali. You'll find out just a little on Annabelle's history. More to come._

_Captain Deadpool: Thanks. I dig your penname. Anyway, you'll have to read on to find out..._

_TheMarySueMurderer: Yeah. I enjoyed Zak making a total fool of himself. And as far as Doyle is concerned, I try to stick with the layout of the TV show. Doyle's no longer hanging with the Saturdays so, he's not in this fiction. Sorry._

_Rosie: Thanks for your patience and here's another update for you._

_Rain999: Here's another update. Sorry it took so long._

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Chapter 4

_Secrets and Slip-Ups_

Doc, Annabelle, Fisk and Zak rushed Dr. Grey's unconscious body into the medical wing of the airship. The medical wing was all ready prepared for an injured person, but no one knew how injured the physics scientist was. Doc wheeled the med-cart up to the big medical machines. He began rushing through the medicine shelves to find drugs to stem Dr. Grey's internal bleeding.

"Annabelle, did you give your mother anything for her injuries?" The super-genius called over his shoulder to the fifteen-year-old girl. He heard the plastic lid of the med-cart tuck back into its housing.

"_No. I couldn't get to the medical area of my home because it was destroyed in the explosion_." Annabelle answered as she checked over her mother again. Miranda looked worse than ever.

Just then they heard footfalls racing down the hallway toward them. Drew Saturday skidded into the room, breathless.

"I'm here! What's going on?" The woman rushed past her son, the Fiskerton Phantom, Annabelle and Cniks. Doc was filling an empty syringe with medicine.

Spitting out the safety cover to the syringe, Doc pushed the needle through the top of the bottle. The man eyed the kids, cat and cryptid in the room.

"Zak. Take Annabelle and her cat and show them around." He told his son. Annabelle's face lit with objection but Doc shook his head at her. "Please go with Zak, Annabelle."

Zak took the girl's hand.

"C'mon Annabelle." The eleven-year-old pulled her to the door. The fifteen-year-old girl opened her mouth to protest Doc's command but she didn't get the chance.

The medical door shut in her face. Annabelle stood there for a long moment, looking more scared than ever. Zak saw the terror on the girl's pretty face and he thought it was best to take her away from there as fast as possible.

"Let's go, Annabelle." But her feet were planted at the door. The eleven-year-old didn't want to hurt the girl but he had to get her out of there.

Zak was just about to ask for Fisk's help when Annabelle's cat meowed at her feet. The teen looked down and saw that her cat was dripping wet from the wind-blown snow they were just in. Her face softened.

"_Do you have a place where I can dry him off_?" Annabelle turned to Zak. The boy nodded welcoming the distraction.

"The bathroom. It's _waaaaaaay_ down at the other end of the airship. If we hurry we can get there!" Zak forced an excited smile as he took a step down the hall. He felt a weird tug on his hand.

Stopping, the preteen found that he was still holding Annabelle's hand. Zak instantly dropped her like she was red-hot and took a big step away from her. Annabelle merely blinked at his weird behavior before she bent over and picked up her cat. The girl hugged her pet and instantly Cniks started purring. Annabelle held her cheek to her cat's head as she walked down the hallway, passing Fisk and Zak. As soon as the girl couldn't see them, Fisk nudged Zak.

"Rs_goof_misurm." The gorilla-cat then started dramatically acting out Zak's look when he realized he was holding Annabelle's hand. Zak glared at his friend.

"Thanks for helping, _Fisk_erton." The preteen marched down the hallway after the girl.

"Is_Funny_misiurm!" Fisk shouted to his friend. The gorilla-cat threw his lanky arms in the air and laughed heartily.

At the other end of the airship, Annabelle walked into the bathroom with her soaked cat in her hands. Fisk and Zak followed but stood at the doorway as Annabelle put Cniks in the sink. Their walk from one end of the airship to the other had been in silence and for Zak, silence never lasted very long.

"So…" The boy began as Annabelle slipped off her heavy coat and set it on one of the clothing hooks in the bathroom. Zak saw a thin form come out from under that big coat. "What kind of cat is… your cat?"

The fifteen-year-old girl walked back over to her cat.

"_Well,_ _he was designed to be a normal short-haired tabby but he's become a little more high-strung than a tabby_." Annabelle voiced, smirking slightly at her cat. Zak blinked.

""Designed"? You mean you got him from a breeder or-?" But then Fisk and Zak saw Annabelle grasp the cat's fur and give it a tug. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Fisk screamed and jumped back as Zak rushed into the bathroom and grabbed her wrists. Annabelle blinked at the boy.

"_I'm drying off my cat_." The girl responded, cool as a cucumber. Zak was freaking.

"You don't dry an animal off by RIPPING off its _fur_!" The eleven-year-old pushed the girl away and looked at the cat's injuries. To his surprise, he saw Velcro and something shiny under the "cat's" fur.

Cniks hissed at him. Zak jumped back.

"Whoa!" The preteen held his heart as Annabelle stepped back up to her "cat".

"_Cyber Nero Innovative Kat Substitute. I call him "Cniks" for short_." The girl set her hand on her robot cat's head. "_Mom designed him for me_."

Annabelle took off the robot cat's fur and revealed its sleek, shiny metal body. Cniks jumped down from the sink, his metal paws "clunking" on the floor. Zak was up on the toilet as he watched the strange robotic cat circle, giving him a death glare. Annabelle wrung out the cat's fur.

"_This is a polyester cashmere mix because mom's allergic to real animals but I insisted that Cniks's fur be super-soft._" The girl held open the artificial fur. Zak's eyes were huge. "_Do you have somewhere I can hang this_?"

Zak nodded and gestured for the towel rack in the shower. Annabelle tossed the fur over the rack and straightened her warm brown coat and her button up shirt. Then she saw Fisk peeking out from the bathroom doorframe. She smiled and moved over to him.

"_This robot is amazing_." The fifteen-year-old girl awed, pulling Fisk into the bathroom's light. She walked around him, running her hand through his soft fur. "_It's very realistic_."

Then Annabelle pressed her ear to Fisk's chest.

"_I can almost hear a heartbeat_!" She rubbed her face in the cryptid's fur, tickling Fisk and making him giggle. The girl wrapped her arms around the gorilla-cat. "_And what type of fur is this? It's SO soft_!"

Zak laughed as he stood on the toilet.

"That's because Fisk is a real animal, Annabelle." The preteen replied. "He's flesh and blood just like you and me."

Annabelle jumped off Fisk and gave him a frightened, wide-eyed stare. The Fiskerton Phantom gave a bashful smile and waved.

"_Hi_surmr!" Fisk murmured. Annabelle slowly backed up, her face going a whiter shade of pale.

Her back hit the wall and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop from screaming.

"_R-r-r-real_?" Annabelle trembled. "_I've never-… never seen a real animal before_."

"Cool. That's a first for both of us because I've never seen a robotic cat before." Zak kicked the air around the robot cat to scare it off. "Shoo! Shoo!"

Cniks just hissed at the boy. The fifteen-year-old girl swallowed hard; this big, lanky, furry thing in front of here was an actual animal!

"_Can-… Is it friendly_?" Annabelle peeped, pointing at the suddenly scary Fiskerton Phantom.

"Who? Fisk? Oh yeah! He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Zak returned, hopping into the shower and shutting the glass door before Cniks got to him. The preteen stuck his tongue out at the robot. "Hey! If you think Fisk is cool, you should see my other two pets!"

Annabelle's face went even paler.

"_You have… more_…?" She trailed off. Zak nodded through the shower door's glass.

"Oh yeah! I'll show you just as soon as you call off your robot. It's… giving me the creeps." Cniks was pawing at the glass, his eyes glowing green.

"_I-I-I… That's all right, Zak. I don't really want to_-" Annabelle began before Zak cut her off.

"If you like Fisk, you'll love Zon and Komodo!" The eleven-year-old boy smiled wide. The fifteen-year-old girl was still huddled in the corner, giving the loveable Fiskerton Phantom a frightened stare. "Just get your cat away from the shower. I've already taken a bath."

Zak folded his arms and glared at the moody robot cat.

"_Cniks, leave him alone_." Annabelle called out. The robot stiffened before it obeyed his master.

Cniks walked up to the girl and rubbed along her ankles, just like any domesticated cat would. Annabelle softened as Zak stepped out of the shower.

"Cool. I wish I could get my pets to obey me like that." The eleven-year-old boy grinned. Fisk grumbled.

"Ushmur." The gorilla-cat folded his lanky arms, obviously offended.

"_Cniks can do a lot more_." Annabelle looked over at Zak. She smiled. "_Watch this_."

The girl looked down at her robot cat.

"_Cniks… sit_." The cat sat obediently. "_Show me your whiskers_."

Suddenly six whisker-like metal rods came out of the cat's top lip. In an instant, all six whiskers lit up with electricity.

"Cool!" Zak awed.

"_Good boy_." Annabelle grinned. "_Sit pretty_."

The cat sat on it haunches, front feet on his chest.

"_Okay… show me your eyes_." The teen commanded. The cat's robotic eyes began to glow green.

Suddenly the cat discharged a laser that shot clean through the ceiling, blowing a big hole above the toilet. Fisk, Zak and Annabelle ducked. When the dust settled, they all saw that the toilet was covered in a pile of debris from the hole in the ceiling.

"_Oops_." Annabelle peeped. Cniks blinked, his eyes going back to normal. "_Sorry. I didn't think Cniks would DISCHARGE that laser_."

The girl glared at her cat. Cniks just turned up his nose and yawned. Annabelle scooped up her cat and hugged him.

"_Cniks can easily pull fifteen times his weight, scale vertical walls and holds two-hundred gigabytes of memory_." The girl cradled her cat. "_Other than being super-cute, he's a girl's best friend… My only friend_."

Zak was trying to stuff a towel in the hole of the ceiling, hoping that his parents wouldn't notice it.

"You don't have any friends? A cool girl like you? No way!" The eleven-year-old hopped to the floor and moved the debris behind the toilet.

"_It's true_." Annabelle answered, completely honest. "_You're the only boy I've seen in the flesh and blood_."

The fifteen-year-old girl reached out and touched Zak's shoulder.

"_I remember seeing one other person and that was… my mom_." Annabelle's hand went to Zak's cheek. The preteen gave her an awkward smile before he took a step away from her.

"C'mon! Dr. Grey can't be the only person you've ever seen." The boy gave a laugh but when he saw the dead serious look on Annabelle's face, he zipped his lips.

"_Dr. Grey isn't my real mother_." The girl shook her head. "_But she'll never tell me who my real mother is. She says that I don't really need to know_."

Annabelle stroked her cat's head, getting a sad look on her face.

"_And I'm in danger of losing Miranda too_." She hugged her cat. To Zak's horror, she started to cry.

"No! No, don't cry!" Zak pleaded, jumping off the toilet and coming up to her. "Dr. Grey's going to be just fine! Mom and dad are working on her right now! She's going to be good as new!"

But Annabelle kept weeping, tears flowing from her concerned dark eyes. Zak gulped, not sure what to do with a crying girl.

"Please don't cry, Annabelle." The eleven-year-old put his hand on her shoulder.

The fifteen-year-old girl looked up at the boy.

"_I'm scared, Zak. Miranda was hurt very bad and she might_-…" Annabelle trailed off as her tears came in rivers.

"She won't!" Zak was quick to reply. "If there's anything I know about Dr. Grey is that she's stubborn! It's going to take more than this to knock her down!"

Annabelle was still crying. Zak looked back at Fisk and gave him a pleading look. The Fiskerton Phantom rolled his red eyes and motioned for Zak to hug her. Zak looked back at his best friend like he was crazy-insane. The boy mouthed the words "no way" before he swiped the air with his hands. Fisk shook his head and made the same action for Zak to hug the girl. The preteen glared at his friend but knew that he was right. Gulping and shutting his eyes, Zak threw his arms around Annabelle.

Zak gave the girl a fast hug, startling himself, Fisk and Annabelle. To his relief, the girl went silent in his arms. Zak felt his cheek resting on the girl's shoulder, some wispies of her thick red hair tickling his neck. He wasn't aware how tight he'd shut his eyes until he opened them.

"Uh… don't cry." Zak peeped. "Your mom will be just fine."

He felt Annabelle breathe in before she set her tear-covered cheek on his head. The two kids stood there in that awkward hug until Zak couldn't take it anymore. Giving Annabelle one last pat on the back, he pulled away from that embarrassingly clumsy hug. But to his shock, the girl grinned at him before she wiped her face with her sleeve.

"_You're incredibly decent, Zak_." Annabelle voiced, sniffling a little. Cniks was nearly crushed against their chests when Zak hugged Annabelle, but the moody robotic cat looked relieved to see his master grin.

The preteen blushed and looked at his feet.

"Now no more crying or you'll get another one of those…" Zak squirmed. "Uh… hugs."

Annabelle nodded but she still looked like she was going to cry. Zak looked up at Fisk and gave him a worried look.

"Let's… go meet Komodo and Zon, Annabelle!" With that Zak started to push Annabelle toward the door. "They're in the control room. C'mon!"

Anything to keep the girl from crying. The boy never had a girl cry around him and he wasn't about to let that happen again.

Down a hallway, just a door away from the control room, Zak was trying anything and everything to keep Annabelle's mind off of her mom's injuries. He was blabbing on and on about studying cryptids since he was born, how he met Fiskerton and the Kur Stone.

"So then I faced down about seven of the ugliest Amaroks in Ellef Ringness! I had no Claw and-!" Zak went on before Annabelle interrupted him.

"_Claw? Is that the thing you threw snowballs with_?" The girl pointed at the Claw that was hanging from his hip. Zak nodded.

"Yep! The Hand of Tsul'Kalu!" He grabbed the Claw and showed it to Annabelle. "I call it the Claw for short; it's easier to say."

Annabelle touched the metal housing but was more tentative to touching the bird's foot. Zak just grinned at her.

"You want to hold it?" He asked. She nodded and he handed it to her.

The fifteen-year-old girl carefully looked at the many buttons on the metal staff before looking at the bird foot. Annabelle brought her finger to one of the toes and carefully touched its claw. Zak watched her examine his weapon. He couldn't fight off that goofy, proud smile on his face.

"It's an ancient mystical tool that helps channel my powers-" Suddenly Annabelle pressed a button. The Claw shot out of its housing.

Fisk and the kids gasped as the Claw bounced off the ceiling and walls of the hallway. The wayward weapon finally hit Zak in the chest, rocketing him off of his feet. The preteen came to a sliding stop halfway down the hall. Zak opened his eyes and found that he couldn't breathe; he'd had the air knocked out of him. He rolled to his side and gasped for air, hearing Annabelle, her robot cat and Fisk race up to him.

"_I'm sorry_!" Annabelle rushed falling to her knees beside Zak. "_I didn't mean to press that button! I'm sorry_!"

Zak gave her a thumbs up as he sat on his knees.

"Isus_allright_sius?" Fisk grabbed his best friend by his shoulders hand helped him to his feet. Zak was finally able to take a break and nod.

"I'm fine." He put a hand on his chest before he looked into Annabelle's worried eyes. "The Claw has a hair trigger, doesn't it?"

Annabelle didn't crack a smile, still looking like she'd just hurt Zak bad.

"_I'm really sorry, Zak. I didn't mean to_." She handed him back the Claw. Zak coughed but took his weapon with a smile.

"Don't sweat it, Annabelle. I'm okay." He returned. Annabelle finally nodded before getting a slight grin back on her face.

She looked as if she was about to ask another question when she suddenly looked up. Annabelle gasped loudly and dove behind Zak.

"_There's something down there_!" The fifteen-year-old girl whispered, looking very frightened.

"What?" Zak stammered, looking surprised.

"_Down there! At the end of the hallway! Something's there! I can hear it_." Annabelle whispered pointing to the end of the hall where the door to the control room was. Zak looked down the hall but saw nothing.

"Annabelle, I don't see a thing." The eleven-year-old returned. "Are you sure you're not hearing things?"

But judging by the frightened look on her face, Annabelle was not lying. The girl clamored back until she hit Fisk's chest.

"_It's coming closer! Don't you hear it breathing_?!" She was now hyperventilating. "_It's a monster_!"

Cniks took off toward the end of the hall.

"_Cniks! Don't_!" Annabelle felt another one of her super sonic screams threatening to come out of her mouth. "_Come back here_!"

But instead, the robotic cat stopped about halfway down the hallway and stared into the seemingly empty space. Cniks hissed, his back arched and his eyes lighting up. Finally the robot lit the hallway with an intense light from its artificial eyes. Now a shadow could be seen.

"Oh! Komodo! You scared us!" Zak groaned. "Come out and show Annabelle that you're no monster."

Suddenly the empty space became a solid mass of genetically altered komodo dragon bummed that he had gotten caught. Annabelle gasped again.

"_It's a komodo dragon_!" She peeped. "_They're vicious! One bite and an injection of their toxic saliva will KILL you! What is it doing on your ship_?!"

Zak laughed.

"That's just Komodo! He's family." The preteen twirled the Claw in his hand.

Komodo was carefully investigating Cniks while the robotic cat wasn't letting him pass.

"_H-How does it turn invisible_?" Annabelle questioned, shaking like a leaf. "_Komodo dragons cannot go invisible_."

"He's genetically altered." Zak responded, shrugging like it was no big deal. Then he took the girl by the hand and led her to the big lizard. "C'mon, Annabelle! Komodo wouldn't hurt a fly."

Annabelle had no choice but to get dragged down the hallway.

"Hey Komodo! Come meet our guest!" The boy called at the dragon. The big lizard hissed at the robot cat before becoming invisible moved toward the kids.

Zak let go of Annabelle's hand as Komodo became visible again. The preteen put a hand on the big lizard's head, giving him a scratch. Komodo gave the guttural growl he did when he was happy. Zak then laughed.

"No one's ever spotted Komodo when he's invisible before, Annabelle. How'd you even hear him?" He waited a second but he heard no reply from the girl. Zak turned his head and saw the fifteen-year-old girl racing down the opposite end of the hallway. "Annabelle! Where are you going?"

As if an answer to his question, Cniks bounded off of Komodo's head and raced after his master. Annabelle ran around the corner with her robot cat on her heels, and disappeared out of sight. The big lizard growled his displeasure with the robot as Zak moved to run after the girl. But Fisk jumped in front of him before he could take another step.

"Get out of the way, Fisk!" The preteen nearly ran into his best friend. "I gotta go after-"

"Musisgurner." The gorilla-cat shook his head. Zak was stunned.

"What?! Why not?" The boy tried to push the Fiskerton Phantom out of his way. Fisk put a furry hand on Zak's shoulder.

"Susmirsus." To Zak's surprise, Fisk used his finger to trace a tear streak down his cheek. The boy blinked.

"What? She was crying again?! I gotta go after her!" He pushed Fisk's hand off of his shoulder. But the gorilla-cat grabbed him again.

"Nosusirnerner!" The seven-foot tall cryptid held the squirming boy against his chest. "Tisusturnm!"

At what his best friend just said, Zak stopped fighting him.

"You really think this was too much for her, Fisk? I mean, Komodo's appetite is worse than his bite." The boy looked up at Fisk. The gorilla-cat nodded as he let Zak to his feet.

"Momsir." Fisk returned, again tracing a tear streak down his cheek. "KomodoFiskZaksurm."

The eleven-year-old cringed.

"So showing her you and Komodo was too much?" Zak gulped. "Man… girls are strange."

Fisk rolled his red eyes.

"KomodoFisk_stayhere_isismr." The gorilla-cat gestured for himself and Komodo. Then he waved at Zak. "Zakgo."

The preteen's face went pale.

"I can't talk to her alone! I'll freeze and say something stupid!" Zak shook his head. "I called her a popsicle! A POPSICLE, Fisk!"

"Furmurnis." Fisk shook his head and pointed to the hallway Annabelle disappeared down. Zak turned and looked down the hall.

He'd have to go after her; Annabelle needed someone right now. The boy gulped and his knees started knocking together. THIS… wasn't going to go well.

Zak searched the hallways. He found that creepy robot cat's fur gone from the towel rack in the bathroom. The boy followed his instincts and his ears. The hallways were metal and echoed the smallest sounds. He hadn't gone far when he heard quiet weeping from one hallway. Zak peeked around the corner and saw Annabelle sitting on the floor, her back against the door of the medical room that Dr. Grey and his parents were inside. The fifteen-year-old girl held her cat, crying into his fur.

Zak squirmed and ducked back around the corner. What was he going to do? What was he going to say?! She looked really upset and it was his fault. He shoved too much on her at one time and made the pretty girl cry. How was he going to fix this?

The sheepish eleven-year-old took a step out into the hallway and stood there for a second, watching her. The girl was slowly stroking her robot cat's tear stained fur, her thick bangs blocking the look in her eyes. Zak inhaled and held his breath as he walked down the hall to her. The preteen stopped beside her and let out his breath. Still Annabelle didn't look up at him.

"Uh… hi, Annabelle." Zak spat out before his brain caught up with him. Still, silence from the girl.

The boy sighed, took a step across the hall and plopped down on his butt. Zak sat across from Annabelle, strangely frustrated when he couldn't see her attractive eyes. There was still a very thick quiet between the two kids, only the sound of Cnik's artificial purring was heard.

"I'm really sorry." Zak spoke quietly. "I didn't mean to overload you. Komodo's stench is worse than his bite…"

Annabelle was still quiet and petting her cat. The preteen sighed again and finally gave into the silence. The two sat there, quiet and thickly awkward.

Suddenly the door behind Annabelle opened and Drew nearly kicked the sitting girl. The woman blinked as she saw her son and the fifteen-year-old girl get up from the floor. Drew smiled at Annabelle.

"You must be Annabelle. I'm Drew, that brat's mother." She pointed to Zak. Zak slapped his forehead.

Now he knew understood the clichés about parents being ridiculously embarrassing. But it appeared that Annabelle wasn't interested in what Drew had to say.

"_My mother. Is she all right_?" Drew's eyebrows rose slightly when she heard the girl's weird voice.

"Uh, yes. Miranda is going to be fine." The woman responded. Annabelle zipped under her arm and ran into the medical room. "No, that's all right. Just go right in."

Drew was a little offended by the girl's bluntness.

"Mom!" Zak hissed. She turned to see her son looking flustered. "Don't call me a brat! It's embarrassing."

"Oh. Sorry." The woman ran her fingers through her son's hair. "What about pookie pie or pumpkin?"

Drew was clearly joking but Zak's embarrassed expression remained.

"Seriously… don't embarrass me anymore." The eleven-year-old moved past his mom, following Annabelle. Drew set her hands on her hips and sighed.

Two kids in one airship. This was going to be tricky.

When Zak caught up with Annabelle, she was at her mother's bedside carefully looking over the injured and unconscious woman.

"She'll be out for a while, Annabelle." It was Doc, coming from the medicine cabinet as he pulled off a surgical mask. "My machines were able to repair her shoulder and stop her bleeding. Miranda just needs rest now."

Annabelle looked up at the tall black man and gave him a thankful smile.

"_Thank you Mr. Saturday_." The fifteen-year-old girl nodded at him. Doc set a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Call me Doc, Annabelle." The tall man gave her a smile. "And I just finished what you started. YOU saved your mother's life by stabilizing her. That was some pretty smart thinking."

The man winked at her. To Zak's horror/disgust Annabelle's eyes fell to her feet as she blushed.

"_Mom taught me_." The girl peeped. "_She said that if anything happens to her that I was to run to the shelter and call you guys_."

"You were very brave back there, Annabelle." Doc nodded back at her. "You faced down a monster all on your own. I don't think you needed our help."

Annabelle's blush grew darker. Zak had enough of it.

"And speaking of monsters, what did your mom create?" The eleven-year-old broke the conversation. The fifteen-year-old girl looked up.

"_It's an energy creature. Mom was experimenting with mass and molecular energy_." Annabelle answered. "_Cniks has downloads of all her notebooks_."

The girl looked down at her robotic cat. Drew and Doc looked confused.

"That's not a normal cat." Zak pointed at Cniks. "It's a robot."

The adults looked surprised but nodded.

"_Mom made him for me_." Annabelle explained as the robotic cat jumped into her arms. The girl looked over at her battered and unconscious mother. "_She made a lot of stuff for me_."

"Like that super sonic weapon you have?" Doc questioned. "We all saw you use it on the monster."

Annabelle nodded.

"_That's not really a weapon; mom doesn't even know I can do that_." The girl gulped. "_Mom made me a larynx and eardrums. You see… I'm deaf and mute_."

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LONG LIVE ROCK!


	5. A Plan

Hello everyone! CJzilla here. I'm very sorry for the long, long wait. Inspiration just didn't come to me for this story. Please forgive me. Now... in this chapter, a plan is hatched to take care of this energy monster and Zak and Annabelle are slowly connecting. Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... review.

**AN: The "dear reviewers" will be discontinued. It was brought to my attention that a "dear reviewers" is illegal here. So please sign in if you want me to reply to your comment. Thank you.**

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Chapter 5

_A Plan_

Words failed the Saturday family as they stared at the red-headed girl. Annabelle Grey had just confessed that she was deaf and mute. The news took a few seconds to sink in.

"Wait, wait, wait." Zak gestured, shaking his head. "You can't be deaf OR mute! You can speak and you heard Komodo sneaking around!"

Annabelle's eyes fell to her feet, suddenly feeling self conscious about explaining her disabilities.

"_I was born without functioning eardrums and a larynx that was fused open_." The girl explained. Then she looked over at the unconscious Dr. Grey. "_But the year I came to stay with Miranda, she made me these hearing aids_."

She curled a lock of her thick red hair behind her ear. The Saturdays saw a small beeping device inside her ear canal.

"_Then when I was ten, Miranda made me a new larynx_." Annabelle added. "_I can hear and speak because of my mom's devices_."

Drew and Zak looked stumped but to Doc, everything made sense.

"Miranda is very handy with electronics so I can see how she made your larynx and hearing aids." The tall black man held his chin thoughtfully. "But I don't see why Miranda never told us that she had a daughter."

Annabelle brought her eyes to Doc's.

"_It's a long story, Doc_." The fifteen-year-old returned.

At the mentioning of that, Doc thought it best to leave that subject alone.

"All right. I need to know about this monster that your mother created." The super genius said. Annabelle nodded.

"_Cniks has a USB port_." She held up her cat. "_He can download my mom's notes onto any computer_."

Drew, Zak and Doc gave the robotic cat a weary glance as it gave a metallic "mew".

"Good. We can put Miranda's notes on one of the computers in the control room." Drew looked at her husband. Doc nodded.

"Annabelle, can you bring your friend to the control room?" Doc questioned. Annabelle looked between the robotic cat in her arms and her unconscious mother.

Thankfully, Zak stepped in.

"Uh… I don't think that's really necessary." The eleven-year-old spoke up, standing in front of Annabelle and looking at his parents. "Annabelle should stay here with Dr. Grey."

The two adults glanced at each other but agreed.

"All right." Drew walked to the door as Cniks jumped into Doc's arms.

Doc and Drew left the room. Zak took a step to follow them but turned, looking back at Annabelle. The girl looked up from sweeping her mother's bangs out of the woman's eyes. Without a word, the preteen left the room and followed his parents.

The Saturdays walked into the control room. The three cryptids, Fisk, Zon and Komodo all snapped to attention; it was getting boring in the small room. Doc walked the robotic cat up to one of the main control panels. Setting Cniks down on the keyboard, the man looked over the strange robot animal. Upon just an outward examination of the "cat", Doc was mystified.

"Uh… where's the USB port on this… cat?" He called down to Zak, uncertain where to look to find the adapter. The boy with the black and white hair shrugged back.

Cniks sat, gave his paw a lick and then gave Doc a clueless look. The tall black man looked down at the robot and saw that his nose was flashing. Doc held his chin before he decided to touch his fingertip to Cniks's face. The robot cat's nose then opened and a USB port was seen.

"Cool." Doc gave a grin and grabbed the port. Cniks's nose stretched like a cable and the man was easily able to place the port into the computer. "I'm relieved it was in your nose and not… somewhere else."

The "cat" gave Doc a clueless look as it instantly downloaded Dr. Grey's files and research notebook into the computer. Files popped up on the screen. Without hesitating Doc began reading, trying to unravel the mystery of the physicist's experiments.

Komodo, sensing that something had been off with Zak since he scared the strange human girl, walked up to the boy and nudged his hand. When the preteen looked down at the big lizard, he saw something of an apologetic look on Komodo's face.

"Don't worry, Komodo. Annabelle just wasn't ready for a cryptid so… awesome." The boy said that to keep from hurting Komodo's feelings. He really did scare the tears out of the fifteen-year-old girl.

Drew couldn't help but overhear the conversation and she came to her son's side.

"You want to tell me what happened?" She asked, seeing the look on Zak's face. The eleven-year-old looked up at his mother with a confused, desperate expression.

Zak shut his eyes and made a face.

"Well, I was trying to keep Annabelle's mind off of her mom having one foot in the grave." The boy replied starting to pace restlessly. He shrugged. "We were in the bathroom, drying off her… uh-… "cat" when she found out that Fisk was an _actual_ animal. That's when things started to go downhill. Then she began to think about her mom and then she started crying."

He groaned and pulled on his black and white hair. As Drew and Zak conversed they had no idea that Cniks was watching them. The robot cat was listening and recording their conversation, notably Zak's exasperation over the whole ordeal.

"I had NO idea what to do! So I decided to show her Komodo and Zon." The preteen went on, walking circles around his mother. "We didn't even get to see Zon when she got really scared and ran. When I found her, she was crying by the door and that's when you guys came. I _REALLY_ goofed this time."

Drew gave her son a sympathetic look.

"Well, think about it; Annabelle's mom was nearly killed, there was a monster that destroyed her home and she was alone for five some hours." The woman stated. "I think Annabelle would be frightened and sad."

Then she looked at her son, running her fingers through his hair.

"But you did pretty well for not knowing Annabelle. There's no way you could have known that she was this sensitive." The woman stated.

"I dunno, mom." The preteen said looking like he just barfed. "She's not talking to me now. You're a girl, so I need an insider's opinion. How do I fix this?"

Drew nearly laughed at the hopeless, desperate look on her son's face.

"Well… Annabelle's situation is unique, seeing that she's Dr. Grey's secret child." The woman began. "Do you know what she likes? Favorite color? Maybe you can materialize her favorite food in the cafeteria."

Zak shook his head.

"Sorry. Seeing Komodo kinda threw off all chances of getting to know Annabelle more." The preteen pouted. Drew cringed.

From above them, Cniks completed his download. The robot cat de-attached himself from the computer and bounded to the floor. Drew and Zak jumped as the strange robot looked up at them.

""_Weird World_."" The cat buzzed, using a recording of Annabelle's voice. ""_This is my favorite show… Weird World… V.V. Argost is… super cool_!""

Drew shuddered as Zak's smile tripled.

"NO way!" The preteen cheered at the robot before he looked at his mother "Annabelle likes Weird World! Now that's something I can work with!"

Both Drew and Zak heard the door zip shut. Cniks was nowhere to be seen. It was anyone's guess that the robot cat went back to Dr. Grey's ICU.

Annabelle was resting her head on her arms at the foot of her mother's bed. The girl stole a few glances at the woman. She saw the machines breathing for Miranda, the tubes in her nose and mouth and the bruises on her face. Annabelle dropped her head and sighed into the sheets. Her eyes felt like they'd been dipped into buckets of sand; it seemed like she had no more tears to cry. The fifteen-year-old cried and cried, right after she and Cniks saved Miranda from the energy monster. At least she now had adequate medical attention; they were all really lucky that help came so soon and so prepared. Annabelle felt her eyes get heavy; the hum of the medical machines and silence of the room lulling her to sleep. She was just drifting off into slumber when she heard the pitter patter of her robot cat's feet on the metal floor.

Before she could sit up, Cniks jumped up on the bed and meowed in her face. Annabelle smiled at her cat and grabbed him. Hugging the robot cat, she felt comforted again. Cniks started purring and sat still in her arms.

"_Download all of mom's notes? Any ideas on how to stop the monster_?" The girl asked her cat. The robot flicked her nose with his tail, making Annabelle giggle. "_I guess that's a no_."

She sighed and stood.

"_This day has just gotten crazier and crazier, Cniks_." Annabelle told her cat pacing the room. "_First the experimenting that mom was obsessing on turned into a monster that nearly killed her, then me and you had to survive alone and now, we're here_."

There was a window just outside of the ICU's door. Outside of the massive airship were the tops of Antarctic snow clouds. From this altitude, those blizzard causing clouds just looked like normal, lazily floating under them. Annabelle walked out of the room and looked out the window.

"_Wow_." The fifteen-year-old girl looked at the sea of clouds. "_Just look at it. There really is a world outside of our home_."

The girl put her hand on the window, longing to touch the fluffy clouds drifting past her. Then Annabelle looked back at the room her mother was in.

"_I just wish mom was awake to see this_." The girl held Cniks away from her, looking into his sandy eyes. "_I don't think mom's seen actual animals before. I hope her allergies aren't going to be that bad when she wakes up_."

Annabelle hugged her cat before setting him on the window ceil. Setting her chin on her propped up fist, she stared into the lovely white of the storm clouds. She sighed and yawned.

"_Solomon Saturday seems like a really nice man. He's got a good eye for electronics. Did you see Zak's weapon? That was some really neat craftsmanship_." Annabelle went on before rocking back on her heels, gripping the guardrail. "_Must be nice to see the world and fight bad guys all the time. Talk about exciting_."

But then Annabelle got a nervous look on her face as she stood straight.

"_Did I-… do you think I… was rude to Zak_?" She looked at her cat. "_Cniks, I was very scared. Does that justify running away_?"

Cniks flicked his tail but didn't take his sandy eyes off of his owner. Annabelle sighed.

"_Why do I feel so bad_?" She slouched eyeing the ground. Rubbing her tired eyes, the girl swallowed the lump of tears in her throat.

Cniks gave his master's shoulder an encouraging nudge with his head. Annabelle ran her fingers through his artificial fur and grinned. Just then she heard footfalls racing down the hallway toward her. She snapped her eyes upwards and saw Zak run around the corner. Startled, she stood.

"Annabelle! I've got something to show you!" The preteen beamed, waving at her. Immediately, Annabelle was nervous again; thankfully Zak deflated her anxiety. "And don't worry; it's not any of my crazy pets."

The girl dropped her eyes and rubbed her arm, feeling strangely shy.

"_Uh-… Okay_." Annabelle agreed. By then Zak was standing in front of her.

He held a big smile.

"And while we're down there, are you hungry? The cafeteria has a really good food materializer." Zak remarked. Annabelle managed a grin.

Zak gestured for her to walk with him. The two kids made the rest of their walk in silence.

Zak and Annabelle walked into the cafeteria. The eleven-year-old boy had the fifteen-year-old girl hold her hands over her eyes as he guided her with his touch. Zak assembled a theatre-like setup including chairs, a really big screen, snacks and his collection of Weird World episodes.

"Okay and… open your eyes!" He chirped. Annabelle removed her hands from her eyes.

She beheld the preteen's toil. In all truth she heard the mechanical video player, popcorn and snack materializer and Zak's excited heartbeat. Even though Annabelle could get an echo-painting through her sensitive hearing, it was WAY better when she saw everything.

"It's a mini theatre!" Zak jumped ahead of her and ran to the bleacher seats. Taking a seat, the boy gestured at everything. "I've got snacks, amphitheatre seating and an awesome picture playing!"

Annabelle held a smile as she walked after Zak.

"And you'll never guess what's on the playlist…" The boy said in a singsong voice, looking excited. The fifteen-year-old red head stopped and touched the tip of her boot to the nearest chair. "Weird World!"

The girl immediately brightened.

"I've got the biggest collection of Weird World episodes that I know of!" Zak added. Then he looked over Annabelle's shoulder. "A little kitty told me that's what you like."

Cniks ran along Annabelle's ankle, purring. The girl picked up the cat and silently thanked him for spilling one of her biggest secrets.

"I'm…" She heard Zak begin; his tone becoming mellow and serious. "I'm sorry about throwing Komodo at you. I should have done something else instead."

Annabelle swallowed, feeling tears threaten to come. She did indeed feel guilty about making a scene and creating doubt in this sweet-hearted boy.

"_That's all right, Zak_." The girl said, barely above a whisper. "_I'm just not used to anything but machines… I didn't mean to make you feel bad_."

Zak looked up at her and saw that her eyes were still on her feet. Sighing, he did his best to exhale any guilt that he felt.

"What's your favorite snack, Decibel?" Zak questioned, hopping out of his seat and running over to the food materializer. "I like a licorice rope and cola myself."

Annabelle's ears perked up when she heard what he called her.

""_Decibel_"?" She repeated, giving him a funny look. Zak pressed a few buttons on the machine.

"Decibel. You know; the measure of a sound's intensity and degree of loudness." He responded watching popcorn materialize into a paper bag. "Since you can produce a sonic boom, I thought it'd be a good nickname for you."

He grabbed armfuls of junk food and turned around. Zak saw the pensive look on her face. Did he just offend her again?

"But-… if you don't like it, I can always go back to calling you Annabelle." He felt a knot of nervousness nearly shut his throat. "You know what? Just forget that I called you-"

But Annabelle cut him off with a smile

"_I like sour gummies and lemon-lime soda_." She returned. "_And you can call me Decibel. It's nice; I like it_."

Zak felt his cheeks heat. Why was it so hard to keep his head around her?

"Okay!" He quickly turned around and started awkwardly pressing buttons with his full hands. "Sour gummies and lemon-lime soda coming right up!"

Annabelle gave a silent giggle and walked over to help him with the popcorn. Soon, Zak and Annabelle were sitting and watching his collection of Weird World episodes. V.V. Argost's pasty and horrifying figure kept their attention as he rattled off tales and legends about powerful, mysterious cryptids. Zak would denounce some of Argost's "facts", giving Annabelle first hand accounts of the featured cryptid.

But their movie viewing was cut short.

"Zak, Annabelle. Please report to the control room." Drew's voice cut over the speaker system. Zak rolled his eyes and groaned while Annabelle looked nervous.

The two kids hopped to their feet and ran to the control room, Cniks right behind them.

Zak zipped into the control room first and trotted up to his parents.

"What's going on?" The boy questioned, a serious look on his face. Drew glanced at her son and found him alone.

"Where's Annabelle? We called you both for a reason." She replied. Zak glanced at the door.

"She's on the other side of the door." He whispered to his mother. "She still isn't comfortable with Fisk, Zon and Komodo."

Zak pointed to the genetically-altered komodo dragon, female Ornithocheirous and the Fiskerton Phantom. The cryptids were minding their own business, bored from being confined to the control room. Doc sighed.

"She has to be in here with us. We have questions that she needs to answer." The tall man got up from his chair and walked toward the door. Zak watched his father go with a gulp.

Annabelle heard Doc get up from his chair. She had her back against the wall as he exited the control room. Her big dark eyes met his as nervousness surfaced on her face. Doc looked down at her with a kind but business-like expression.

"We need you in the control room." The man knelt beside her. "All of us need to hear this."

Annabelle looked away, feeling her chest tighten when she thought of facing down the cryptids again.

"_Can-… can I just-… Can I stay out here, Doc_?" She whispered. "_I don't want to see that big lizard again_."

Doc looked off for a second.

"We really need you inside, Annabelle." He responded. Annabelle shut her eyes tight and quivered.

She felt fear rise through her again. She wanted to run. But then Cniks meowed at her feet. Looking down, the girl saw her cat look up at her before walk to the door and meow. Annabelle gave a shaky sigh and nodded at Doc. The black man stood, a kind smile on his face. He offered the fifteen-year-old girl his hand which she readily took. Cniks ran into the control room and bounded to the main control panel.

Drew and Zak watched Doc slowly walk a very timid Annabelle into the room. The girl gave the room a careful look over before she took a step out from behind Doc. There were no cryptids in sight. Annabelle gave a wary sigh and released Doc's hand.

"Are you okay, now?" The tall man questioned, looking down at the frightened girl. Annabelle nodded and stood close to Zak.

Doc walked to the control panel and pushed a button. Suddenly a collage of digitally scanned papers and reports filled the screen.

"Now that you are all here, let me brief you on what I found in Miranda's logs. It's more serious than I thought. I finished reading Dr. Grey's notes and I think what we're dealing with." Then he looked out over his family. "We'll have to destroy it."

Zak looked surprised while Drew nodded.

"What is it, dad?" The preteen boy questioned, walking up to the control panel and leaving Annabelle with his mother.

"Dr. Grey was experimenting with energy and mass; that much is very clear in all the intricate accounts she kept." Doc responded, clicking on one specific report. "To make it brief, her experiment got away from her. Miranda made a mass of energy that some how came alive."

He clicked another screen, this showing a graph of the energy around the area of Dr. Grey's lab.

"This shows that this monster feeds on more energy and it lives only to feed." Doc added. Then he glanced over at Annabelle. "I'm afraid it consumed Annabelle's home, as well as nearly devouring Dr. Grey before it could be stopped."

"It eats people?" Zak questioned, a grisly look on his face.

"Not necessarily." His father answered, bringing up another screen showing the energy of the sun, a plant and a human. "It consumes them; it eats energy. Sunlight, electricity, the energy in a human body; anything it can get."

The preteen glanced at his mother and Annabelle. The fifteen-year-old girl held her eyes to the floor, thinking.

"What will happen now?" Drew questioned, walking to her son's and husband's side. Doc pulled up Dr. Grey's report.

"Unless it's stopped, it will continue to grow and grow." The tall black man answered, pointing to a sentence in Miranda's log. "It needs to be stopped and there's only one way that I can think of."

His family looked up at him.

"First and foremost, we have to think of a way to make it visible. We can't fight something that we can't see." Doc continued. "Then we can lay a trap with some equipment I can try to put together. But… _how_ to see it? That part I-"

"Why not paint it?" Zak chirped. His parents snapped their eyes to him. "Think about Komodo." Zak gestured for the big lizard that was supposed to be sitting next to Fisk. "He can go invisible but he can't make other things like paint disappear! It's the same thing for that energy monster! It couldn't make the snow disappear, so why not paint as well?"

Drew and Doc grinned.

"Zak, you may have a thought there." Doc nodded. Drew chuckled.

"That's the genius side of my family." She ran her finger up Doc's chest. The super-genius grinned.

"Annabelle, Zak." Doc looked up at his son and friend. "Take Fisk and go down to the storage area. Pick out the brightest colors and put them into plastic bags. I want to be able to see this monster from space."

The two kids nodded and Zak looked over to Fisk, hanging out in a corner of the control room.

"C'mon, buddy!" The preteen called to his best friend. "We have to get our paint on."

Fisk cheered and jumped to his feet. Zak ran down to Annabelle and grabbed her hand. The girl was dragged down to the cargo hold with her robot cat and the Fiskerton Phantom right behind her.

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!

**AN: There is a picture of Annabelle on my deviantArt account. CJzilla dot deviantArt dot com. Thanks**


	6. High Stakes

Hello Saints and Sinners! I'm updating! I'd apologize for the wait but I don't wanna.... Enjoy.

As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this...: R&R! Love... hate... review.

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Chapter 6

_High Stakes_

Doc, with Drew looking over his shoulder, tracked the movements of the invisible monster. It was currently thirty miles away of them. Doc kept the airship a healthy distance from the energy consuming monster. It was in their best interest that they tracked it. The resulting information from their chase told a lot about this monster.

"This monster is heading toward a penguin colony." Doc spoke to his wife. He knew that she was reading the stats from behind him, but he just had to say something. "At its current speed… it will be on the colony and animals before nightfall."

Drew shook her head, mourning the penguins before they were even consumed. But she soon saw the silver-lining.

"It's a good thing that Miranda's lab was way out here." She managed a snorting chuckle. "I mean if this thing got loose where we live the damage would be on a catastrophic scale. All that's out here is the wind, snow and cold."

Doc grinned when Drew set her hand on his neck.

"And we have to use that to our advantage." The super-genius responded looking up at his wife. "Because Antarctica is so barren, the energy monster is moving to where the energy is: in the penguins. It goes where the energy is."

Drew quirked a brow.

"Is that how you going to trap it?" The woman questioned. Doc nodded.

"I plan on using the Airship as bait. It's solar-powered battery can sustain a small town for a day. It should be irresistible to the creature." The man returned. Drew looked surprised.

"The Airship? But what if the creature does consume the power in the battery? We'll be stuck in barren Antarctica with an energy monster!" She spoke. By the look on Doc's face, he knew that baiting with the Airship was more than risky.

"There are not many options at this point, Drew." The tall black man responded. "I-"

And suddenly the door opened with a swish and Fisk came running in. He had clear, plastic bags full of pink and blue pain.

"Paintisursur!" The tall, lanky cryptid cheered. Drew smiled.

"Good work, Fisk. Where are Zak and Annabelle?" The curvy, white-haired woman questioned. The Fiskerton Phantom glanced over his shoulder.

"Cominurlurs." He pointed at the door. And then the lanky cryptid handed Doc his bags of paint.

The black man inspected the color.

"Very good, Fisk. This will light up the Invisible Monster like a Christmas tree." Doc gave a grateful nod. Fisk smiled.

Then the door opened. Zak was side by side with Annabelle, holding her hand and walking slow with her. It was a tender, heartwarming moment; for Doc and Drew at least. Their son, who had his fair share of pressure and responsibilities, was helping Annabelle through her tough time.

"Good work guys." Doc called down to the boy and girl. "Now we have something to see the monster with."

Zak looked up and nodded as he helped Annabelle to the control panel.

"Do we have a baring on it now?" The preteen inquired. His father hit a button and revealed the monster's path.

"It should get to the coast before nightfall." Doc responded. Zak shook his head at the path the energy monster cut through layers and layers of ancient ice.

"It sure makes a mess of things, doesn't dad?" The preteen made a face.

"You can say that again." The tall black man returned, using the camera mounted on the Airship's hull to zoom in on the monster's location. "I don't want to see what it will do to that penguin colony."

Annabelle suddenly gasped.

"_The Guptill penguin colony?" _The girl blurted out. "_At this time of year there are researchers observing the Guptill colony_!"

"We don't intend on letting the monster consume neither animal nor human." Drew answered.

"That's why we've got to destroy it." Doc felt a frown curl onto his face. Then he turned to his family and guest. "My plan is simple; we are going to use the Airship as bait; gun the engines to a point where the monster can't resist us."

Zak gave his father a weird look.

"And what will that accomplish? We'll be stranded here with an energy-sucking monster!" The black and white-haired preteen gestured.

"I don't intend on letting it consume us. I want to lead the monster back to Dr. Grey's laboratory." The tall black man answered. "There I can make a trap with some equipment I can try to throw together with supplies here and at our destination."

Then he gave everyone a solemn look.

"But first we have to paint it." He added. "I'm not fighting something that I can't see."

Drew swallowed hard. Zak shrugged.

"What's wrong with that? I can do it. I can use one of the rocket belts in the back and-" The preteen began but his mother cut him off.

"Okay, one, there is no way a rocket belt can fly in the fierce Antarctic winds and two, NO!" Drew counted on her fingers. The boy made a face.

"Well, how can we paint it? Zon can't fly in the cold and we can't pull the Airship close enough without losing power." Zak gestured at the female Ornithocheirous and at the control room. Doc held up his hand.

"Your mother does have a point, Zak. The weather's too strong for a rocket belt." The man responded and then he looked at his wife. "But what other option do we have? It's too dangerous for the Airship to come in too close."

Drew gave her husband a glare.

"NO! I will not allow ANY of my family to risk their lives!" She snapped.

Again Zak cursed his mother's… stubbornness to keep him safe. HE didn't even think about his safety, so why should his mother? It was at times like this that he wished Drew Monday was his mother; that evil doppelganger didn't care if he died.

"_I'll do it_." Came a quiet voice from Annabelle. The Saturdays looked at the young girl with thick red hair. "_I'll paint it_."

Doc softened while Drew gave a groan.

"We don't want you in the line of danger either, Annabelle." The woman put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's too dangerous for anyone right now."

Annabelle cocked her head.

"_We don't have much of a choice, do we_?" Her response was more of a rhetorical question. "_Let me paint it._"

Zak gave her a wide-eyed stare.

"No! You can't do it!" He blurted out. "You won't make it _five_ seconds with that thing!"

The girl gave him a deep stare before her brow furrowed in irritation.

"_I survived nearly five hours in temperatures that would freeze a normal person."_ And that's where the Saturdays could see Miranda's willful stubbornness in the skittish girl. "_It nearly killed Miranda. I want to make sure it won't exist long enough to do that again_."

Zak swallowed.

"It won't risk another human life." Doc stood from his chair. "Because we are going to destroy it. We can use a projectile launcher in the weapons cache. And we have two snowmobiles left; they can get us close enough to paint the energy creature."

Drew gave her husband a cross look.

"Darling-" But Doc wouldn't have it.

"There's no other alternative. With the snowmobiles, we have a less risk of falling victim to the monster than if we used the rocket belts in this weather." The tall black man returned. "I'll go alone."

"No because if something happens to you, who will rig the equipment needed to destroy the monster? I'll go." Drew voiced. A frown curled onto Doc's face.

"And who will help me raise Zak if you get consumed?" He grunted. The woman gave him a glare.

"I'm going. End of this discussion." Drew growled. Doc rolled his good eye but relented.

"Come to the hangar. We need to put together the equipment." The man said with a sour look on his face. Then he turned to Zak and Annabelle. "Give us fifteen minutes and then bring us within twenty miles to the monster. No closer Zak; any nearer to the monster and I believe it can start to siphon the Airship's energy cells."

With that gruff command, Doc and Drew walked out the door. Zak knew that as soon as they were out of earshot, they'd start arguing. The preteen gave a quiet sigh and stepped up to the Airship's controls. He glanced only part of Dr. Grey's notebook when he caught Annabelle glaring at him through the corner of his eye. Bringing his eyes to the girl, he saw annoyance on her pretty face.

"What?" Zak asked stupidly. Annabelle's lips curled downward.

"_Why did you say that_?" She questioned. "_Why do you think I'll only last a few seconds with the monster_?"

He'd offended her. Great. His mouth moved quicker than his brain.

"I forgot about the time you spent on the ice, Decibel." The boy offered. "It just seems like you-…"

Zak trailed off. So far, what he'd seen of her anyway, Annabelle was an easily frightened, easily upset girl. She just didn't seem like the kind to stare a monster in the face without running away. Annabelle lifted her eyebrows, indicating she wanted him to finish his answer.

"I mean…- I just-…" Zak's breath hitched before his brain found him again. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

The girl's face lightened.

"_Oh_." Annabelle returned. "_I just want that thing to be stopped_."

Zak nodded.

"We all do, Decibel. It's just hard to let someone risk their life since you care so much for them. You know what I mean?" He returned. Annabelle gave a small nod.

"_I understand. Mom wouldn't let me help with her experiment because she thought I'd get hurt. Now she's hurt_." Then a silence fell over her as she stared at Zak. "_Does this type of thing happen to your family all the time_?"

A smile came to his face.

"Oh yeah." Zak returned. "But there's usually more yelling. Since you're here, I think my mom and dad are toning it down a bit."

Annabelle grinned.

"_How much of the world have you seen, Zak_?" She asked.

"Lots of it!" Zak cheered. "From Malaysia to Canada, we've been everywhere."

The girl looked at her shoes again.

"_And you said you have an uncle_?" She added. The boy nodded.

"Yup. Uncle D's practically adores me. He taught me how to knock out a bad guy and then bill mom and dad for it." Zak's grin couldn't be contained. Annabelle listened to Zak's stories as the fifteen minuets gradually passed.

The Airship began its approach to the energy monster. Time was growing near to the dangerous maneuver.

Exactly twenty minuets later and the Airship descended to the frosty, windy Antarctic surface. Inside the large floating zeppelin, two kids, three cryptids and robotic cat watched Drew and Doc Saturday suit up for the inhospitable climate outside. Apparently, after a few minuets of fighting, both spouses agreed to go together and leave the kids in the Airship.

Zak felt a twinge of fear as he watched his parents slip into their cold climate suits and haul gear onto their snowmobiles.

"Don't forget the paint." The preteen chuckled uneasily, trying to alleviate the tension in the room. Doc looked up at his boy, a steely, serious look on his chiseled features.

"You are to keep this Airship immobile until we return, Zak." The tall black man barked. "If anything goes wrong, I want you to leave the area and place a call to Dr. Beeman. Is that clear?"

Zak swallowed.

"What do you mean, "if anything goes wrong"?" He questioned. Doc looked away as he strapped the projectile launcher to the back of his snowmobile.

"You know exactly what I mean, Zak." He gruffly returned. "If your mother and I fail, you are to flee the area and get clear of the energy monster. Contact Dr. Beeman and the other Secret Scientists."

The preteen narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not going to leave you and mom here on this rock!" Zak threw his hands in the air. Suddenly, his father shot him the most resolute glare he'd ever seen.

"If the energy monster gets a hold of us… there will be nothing left to salvage." Doc growled. "Now, for once obey me and swear that you will leave if we fail."

The tall man stood, not liking the fearful and hesitant look in his son's eyes.

"Answer me Zak!" He exclaimed. Zak jumped, snapped out of thought.

"I-… I swear…" The boy peeped, his usually bright face marred with fear. Doc simply turned and finished securing the gear.

Drew was within earshot of everything said. Fiddling with her projectile launcher and her paint bombs, she kept her back to her family. It was the only thing she could do to hide the fear on her face. This was suicide… but necessary. The energy creature had to be stopped.

"Weapons primed and ready." Drew voiced as she turned on her heel to her husband. Doc simply nodded and swung a leg over his snowmobile.

Drew followed her husbands cue and sat on her machine. Both husband and wife flicked up their hoods.

"Open outer doors." Doc barked. Fisk… who was nearest to the controls pressed the button with his toe. The large hydraulic doors opened and instantly a gust of icy, Antarctic wind blew through the hanger. "Lower lift."

The man's command was answered when the lift he, his wife and the gear were on slowly lowered to the ground. Zak watched his parents descend with fear crawling up his spine. Why did he feel like he was never going to see them again? Running to the edge of the doors and looking down on his parents, he caught them fire up their snowmobiles. They hesitated before Doc motioned for Drew to follow him. Both mother and father roared off into the sharp and icy wind. The lift raised as Zak came to a decision.

The eleven-year-old glanced at the spare gallons of paint and projectile launcher.

"Fisk." Zak spoke. Instantly his best friend was at his side. "Do me a favor… can you strap Zon in her harness?"

Immediately Fisk wailed in response.

"_**NO**_misrk!" The Fiskerton Phantom exclaimed, picking his best friend off of the ground and holding him at his eye-level. But Zak had that infamous look on his face.

"Am I crazy to worry about mom and dad? If we let them go now, they'll never come back. I've got the feeling that they won't survive." The eleven-year-old stated resolutely.

Annabelle ran over to Fisk and Zak, overhearing what the boy had just said.

"_Zak! You're not serious_!" Her breath was caught in her throat. "_How-…? What-…_?"

She trailed off.

"My parents are good… but they're not that good." Zak voiced, glancing between Annabelle and Fisk. "Don't tell me I'm the only one that knows a ground assault is suicide."

Both gorilla-cat and fifteen-year-old girl were silent.

"_But… what can you do_?" The redheaded girl questioned, twiddling her thumbs. Fisk put Zak back onto the floor and nodded his agreement.

"An aerial attack is the only way to paint that thing successfully." The preteen pounded his fist into his hand. "It's the only halfway safe way to get the job done."

"_I've lived in Antarctica since I can remember, Zak. And I can tell you now that at the rate of the weather, you'll be nothing but a feather in the wind_." Annabelle reasoned, hands laced together tightly.

"Not if I have enough torque or an expert flier." The boy motioned to the teal Ornithocheirous quietly watching them. "All Zon has to do is hold her wings steady as I let a rocket pack do all the work."

"_She's cold blood_-!" Annabelle's voice was rising in objection before Zak cut her off.

"Annabelle… if that was your mom down there… racing off to her certain doom… wouldn't you do something?" The eleven-year-old asked. The answer was obvious. "All I need is one, maybe two direct hits on that walking invisible wrecking ball. Trust me, Decibel… I've done this sort of thing before."

Zak managed a smile half-way full of swagger. Annabelle, however, looked scared stiff. She looked down to the floor and swallowed.

"_I guess what my mom tell me about the Saturdays is true_." The fifteen-year-old girl looked up with a tiny smile. "_That your family thinks on your feet and with your heart and never hesitates to lend a hand where it's needed_."

Fisk, Zon, Zak and even Komodo gave smirks.

"And that, my dear Decibel, is why she had you call us first." The eleven-year-old winked at her while he spun the Hand of Tsul'Kalu. Annabelle promptly blushed and giggled into her fist.

"_Then what can I do_?" The girl asked, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear. Zak was over at a nearby supplies closet, getting into his cold weather gear.

"Just do what my dad said; keep the Airship here and if anything goes wrong, get in touch with Dr. Beeman." The ebony-headed boy called back to her, shoving his foot into a boot.

Nodding, Annabelle glanced down at Cniks. The robotic cat gave her a shrug, looking like he didn't care if the jumpy Saturday boy made it or not. Fisk, meanwhile was putting Zon into her harness as Komodo circled, hissing at the female Ornithocheirous.

"Fisk!" Zak called from the closet. "Make sure that harness is good and tight! I don't wanna fall out of it when we hit the wind!"

"Yescisorss!" The Fiskerton Phantom saluted.

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


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